


No Angel for the Wolf-Lover

by LeafThoj



Series: Demigod Boys Love [3]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Bisexual Male Character, Dead Character, Kaholl, Long Romance, M/M, Male Friendship, Male Homosexuality, MasOll, Memories, Michael Yew - Freeform, Slow Romance, grieving death, solangelo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-11
Updated: 2017-09-21
Packaged: 2018-03-17 10:08:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 91,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3525245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeafThoj/pseuds/LeafThoj
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They saved the world. Twice. Connor Stoll was twenty going on twenty-one. It was late June. The last quest he went on a year and a half (or so) ago with Travis and Will left all three of them not with a prophecy to save Alethea Yang... but on a longer quest for love. Connor had a feeling he'd already lost his "angel". Years ago.  He never properly mourned that loss. Connor wanted to let go, but that was difficult. How was he going to fulfill the prophecy when he didn't have an "angel" like Will and Travis?</p><p>Jake Mason didn't expect much in life. He did what he had to and he moved forward. He was better working with his hands, and taking what came to him than he was trying to grab hold of something and keeping it. It was the same when he ended up the cabin counselor before Leo Valdez came into the picture. He gave that up. The same could be said about the concept of love, which he didn't quite get. He wasn't a shining star like Leo or Charles. He liked his work and he liked being appreciated for his work. Love wasn't something he could "master". Then while teaching some younger siblings in the forge Connor Stoll walked in... and Jake remembered a time in his younger years when he'd been more passionate about life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. the Angel in the Memories

Connor took a deep breath. Running blew his mind away. Sex didn’t quite have the same effect. That hot white vision thingy people sometimes used to explain really good sex? Connor never experienced that. Probably never would. He was disillusioned by it before he knew what sex was. Afterwards he just didn’t care.

He sat up and picked up his Greek bronze sword, hefting it into the dirt as a support stick. Connor winced, almost expecting to be yelled at for using his sword like a walking stick again. Then he remembered he was only visiting camp for a couple days for the alumni event. He still wasn’t sure why he even bothered. In the years before Chiron and Mr. D never bothered to gather the “graduated” campers.

He was a day earlier than everyone. He expected Travis to get back to Camp Half-Blood within a couple of hours. Connor had left at midnight using Bellerophon, knowing Travis the guy would use the same mode of transportation.

Dusting himself off, he kept an ear out for any monsters. He sometimes forgot the forest was used as training grounds. Half of the injuries he’d sustained in the years he was at camp was due to that forgetfulness of danger.

Remembering a part of his past he wished he could forget Connor shook his head. With a sigh he started to walk back to camp. He figured he should visit some of his younger half-siblings and see how their training was coming along, but it wasn’t like Connor even knew them. It’d only been a year and a half since he officially stopped visiting camp as a camper or otherwise.

Not much could change from that. There were some familiar faces but Connor wasn’t close to any of them. He grimaced, remembering the next couple of days was the alumni visitation and reunion day. It meant a lot of showcasing their abilities and skills, as well as a discreet way to tally up who was still alive. Connor was not pleased with the idea. There were certain people he didn’t want to see. One of them was Clarisse La Rue.

When Connor returned to the Hermes cabin he put his sword upright next to his bed. He sat on the lower bunk to take off his shoes. The Hermes cabin was still huge as ever but as the visiting alumni he got a bed out of honor. He switched his running shoes for his tennis shoes. Then he tossed his running shoes under the bottom bunk as always, and as he stood he made sure his sleeping bag was still on the top bunk where he left it.

Since the bunk he’d claimed for him and Travis were—as before in the years they were here—the closest to the door, he exited the bunker with less than ten steps. Connor looked around, noticing all the short kids, oddly tall teenagers, all the awkward little moving youths and remembered the times he’d spent at Camp Half-Blood. He remembered the various pranks, all the chases, all the competitions and trainings, the blood and sweat, how he got the calluses on his hands, and the scars…

As he was walking to the Big House he passed the Arts and Crafts area. There he saw a bunch of the Apollo campers together. Alethea Yang was there, humming a tune to herself as she painted splashes of different colors on her canvas.

_“Liar.”_

The ghostly whisper sent a shiver through Connor. He felt a wave of emotion hit him, as he remembered every lie he’d ever told that person. All the lies. All the little things he said to get away from that person. Connor felt crippled, remembering a specific time he’d said he didn’t like sweet things simply to leave the Arts and Crafts area because that person was there asking him.

_“Liar.”_

Connor groaned, feeling the weight of it all crushing him.

“Hey, Con,” that familiar voice called out to him. Travis. His brother. Travis was walking from the cabin over to Connor.

Blinking, and straightening himself he wondered how long he’d been standing in the middle of the road towards the Big House. How long he’d watched Alethea paint at the Arts and Crafts area. Her once white canvas was filled with an array of splashed colors. It looked more like a meshed up tie-dye painting now.

Then Connor registered the big muscled person behind Travis. Michael Kahale. He inwardly seethed, and internally stabbed himself. Michael Kahale was a good person, he knew that but…

He felt Michael’s big hand ruffle his hair. He slapped the hand away and ran his hand through his slightly long hair to fix it. Connor tried to mentally remind himself he needed to get his hair cut.

Connor glared at Michael who just smiled at him in that charming way of his. Connor hated that smile. That damn smile. He hated Michael Kahale simply because Travis fell in love with him. How his brother could fall in love with someone while in the thick of battle Connor would never know or understand, but he hated Michael for it.

“Mike,” Connor gave Michael a terse nod as a greeting. With a dramatic roll of his eyes—he had a feeling with Travis jabbing him in the ribs—it was also done sarcastically. Connor knew that was meant to insult him or annoy him, because he was ever so dramatic with his moods. Not like he didn’t try. It was that he purposely did them to get a reaction out of people.

“What’s up, Con?” Travis asked him, putting a hand on his shoulder. Connor inadvertently grimaced. It caused Travis to worry even more but he just shook his head at his older brother.

Travis wasn’t normally pushy the way Connor was. Not unless they were both just doing it to mess with people. They haven’t done that in a while—since Will and Nico. Travis had his moments though, now wasn’t one of them. His brother let it drop.

“Alethea sure has a talent for colors,” Michael commented. They were all looking at Alethea and her painting. She was sitting there with her paint brush between her fingers as she put her hand to her cheek. The paintbrush was dabbing splotches of paint on her cheek. Her hands were an array of color stains and her smock had more paint on it than the canvas did.

“There goes Will, poor guy,” Travis chuckled.

Connor inwardly groaned in pain. His eyes landed on Will Solace approaching Alethea, kneeling down and sweetly talking to his younger half-sister. He’d taken her in as if she was his full-blooded sister. It was hard not to love the girl. Connor flinched, seeing the way those similar blue eyes lit up with laughter.

_“Liar.”_

Connor quickly turned away. Watching Will so obviously happy made Connor feel a bit guilty.

He didn’t head towards the Big House as he’d intended earlier when it was still noon. He didn’t realize he’d rushed himself to the archery range until he got there.

Connor groaned.

_“C’mon Stoll, show a bit of spine will you?”_

Connor hated the memories. He knew it was past time to stop hating himself, to stop drowning in the pain. He knew it was time to stop grieving but he couldn’t. A part of him still held on. Maybe it was self-hate.

He rushed past the Archery Range and found himself at the Arena. There he found Clarisse La Rue doing a mock duel with one of her younger siblings. Connor groaned, watching how her boyfriend—his half-brother—Chris Rodriguez watched over her with that soft gaze. As though he fell in love with her every time he saw her in a fight.

Connor felt his stomach undo itself and turn over.

_“Hey Connor, still pretending to be your brother?”_

He moved away from the Arena. This time he found himself standing at the Mess Hall. He saw Nico di Angelo there with his cronies, Percy Jackson and the rest of the seven heroes. For a moment Connor could breathe.

“Hey Connor,” Hazel greeted him with a smile. Then she frowned. “Uh… Travis…?” People were always second guessing themselves.

He smiled for a moment as he approached the group.

“Nah, I just saw Travis. He has this big thing looming over him called a Michael Kahale,” Percy grinned widely. Hazel smacked him in the arm as Frank shared a smile with him.

Connor liked this. He could handle this.

“Why do we have Romans here?” Leo Valdez asked. Connor just grinned as Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque glared at him. Jason Grace smacked Leo in the arm this time. “What?” he yelped with innocence, “It’s a valid question, ain’t it?” He held on to his not-really-injured giant bicep and inched away from Piper McLean’s reach.

“It’s rude,” Piper hissed at him.

Connor was about to slip away when Nico di Angelo grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away. He’d never seen Nico do that with anyone, much less experience it. So he was a little thrown back when he was standing alone with Nico between the Arena and the Mess Hall.

“What’s up, Nico?” he tried for cheerful.

“I am a son of Hades, Connor,” he said.

“Yeah?”

“And your friend.”

“Yeah…?” Now Connor wasn’t so sure exactly why Nico pulled him away.

“I know you’re grieving,” Nico said finally.

Connor felt himself pull away. Then realized he had literally pulled away, putting a distance between himself and Nico. He hoped Nico didn’t take that as some sort of rejection. He and Travis had worked hard in the years before with Will to make him feel welcomed.

“Who are you grieving?” Nico asked him suspiciously.

“It’s nothing Nico, just leave it,” Connor tried to say without really saying anything. Instead he heard his voice cracking with his last two words. He turned away, trying to compose himself. Instead he ran his hand through his hair, suddenly remembering when that person had once done the same when his hair was longer like it was now.

“I could feel that grief before I even stepped out of the shadows with Will.” Nico usually wasn’t always pushy and demanding was he? Connor wouldn’t know, he’d been away from Travis and Will for too long. He’d hidden his grief for so long that when he finally had the time to be alone he wasn’t sure whether trying to be happy and fun was being himself anymore. He was so used to feeling… regretful, angry… hurt.

Nico finally conceded, “I won’t push you, but you should know we are here for you. Allowing yourself to hurt alone doesn’t solve anything.” Connor almost laughed. Nico di Angelo, the person known to wallow in pain and grief telling _him_ doing that alone wasn’t healthy or helpful? He wanted to laugh, but how pathetic would that be for him to find fault with someone who genuinely cared about him?

“Sure,” he squeezed out and turned to walk away. Anywhere but the one person in the world who could feel his grief and regret. He knew all it really took was a little more and Nico would know who was the ghost haunting his memories of Camp Half-Blood. Perhaps some of the demigods coming tonight will have good memories and sad memories, maybe even bad memories but Connor felt he was the only one with lies in his.

He found himself at the Forge and waited to be assaulted with memories, with pain and hurt. Waited for the moment when he would drown in the lies he’d told, for the regret that threatened to bury him alive until he couldn’t breathe and was choking on the smoky air.

“Hey Stoll, what brings you here?” a deep voice greeted him.

Connor’s eyes drew towards Jake Mason and he found himself breathing again. The Forge was the one place he’d rarely gone, and the one place he’d never seen that person in the span of time they’d both known each other.

“Whoa, Connor?” Jake dropped his piece of work into a tub of water and raced to him. Jake threw off his fire-resistant gloves in one switch motion to the ground and ripped off his blacksmith apron before enveloping Connor with a hug. “Dude, you can’t start crying around here?” Jake hissed into his ear.

He bent his head down and hid his face into the crevice of Jake’s neck and shoulder.

“What in Hades happened?”

Connor felt the trembles course through him as he cried. He let the tears flow. Here, in this smoky, soot-filled and heated place… It was here.

This was where Connor could mourn him properly.

“Connor?”

He shook his head. He wasn’t ready for Jake to let him go, to stop hiding his vulnerability. Connor needed Jake to keep him from completely breaking down.

“Dammit, alright, everyone get your work to a stopping point and leave!” Jake shouted over Connor’s head, waving his hand behind Connor to rush people out of the forge.

“Jake’s got a boyfriend.” He heard someone singsong as they left, and he was almost able to laugh at that. If they only knew the truth.

“You owe me for this,” Jake grumbled.

“Sorry,” Connor sniffed. His voice broke on him, he was shaking still, and the tears wouldn’t stop. He pulled away and stopped fighting the tears.

“Why are you here?” Jake asked him in a softer voice. Connor shook his head.

“I just need time…” Connor said. He found a bench and sat down.

“Alright, then I’m getting back to work,” Jake said. He grabbed his gloves and apron off the ground and put them on. “You just sit there and do what you need to do since it’s just us.” Jake resumed his heating and pounding… or whatever people did in a forge. It was really hot in here. His eyes were sweating again.

Connor found himself wiping at his eyes constantly, asking Jake random questions about what he’d been up to since he left camp at eighteen. He was grateful Jake didn’t ask him or push him to know why he was crying, why his eyes watered, why sometimes he just broke down and sobbed, or why he would randomly groan out inaudible apologies for lying and being a fool.

But then he said the one thing that got Jake to stop everything.

“I miss you Michael,” he had whimpered, and Jake was no longer pounding away at his metal. It felt like everything was standing still again.

He realized he’d spoken out the person’s name. He looked up, rubbing the tears from his eyes with the short sleeve of his t-shirt. Connor panicked for a moment until Jake started pounding on his metalwork again.

“I miss Yew too,” Jake said, pounding away at the metalwork.

Connor didn’t bother telling Jake, because he was sure Jake had already known. Michael had been a solid friend, but before they’d gone into the Battle of Manhattan he’d asked to take Connor out once they finished saving the world. He’d even been cheeky and overconfident like he always was, saying how he would give Connor a ride on his chariot.

They saved the world.

_Twice._

Michael Yew still hasn’t come back from the battle.


	2. The Morning After Mourning

Jake laid in his old bunker bed and thought about what he’d experienced just now. He could hear Leo Valdez’s quiet snore but just put on his headphones and turned on the music. Tomorrow was going to be a long day. Why he bothered thinking about what he witnessed together with Connor Stoll made no sense to him.

Jake woke up earlier than usual. When he checked his watch it said it was 6 AM. He took off his headphones and sat up cautiously and peered around them cabin. Most of the Hephaestus children were still sleeping and Leo Valdez was dead to the world.

He put on his sweatpants and his running shoes then grabbed his music player. Jake ran his hand through his hair and yanked at the short mess. He made it a rule to keep his hair short—sometimes even shaving it all off—because he didn’t like it when they were in the way of his work.

Jake put in his wireless earbuds—ones he upgraded himself—and started his run from the front door of the Hephaestus cabin to the beach. He past the Mess Hall and took note of Will Solace and Nico di Angelo sitting at the Hades table. Nico di Angelo was sitting facing outwards and grumbling something apparently while Will Solace laid down on the bench and had his head in Nico’s lap. Will looked happier than Jake had seen him in years. Surprisingly neither of them noticed him jogging by them, and if they had they were comfortable enough not to care.

Jake made it to the beach. He crouched at the edge and splashed some cool water in his face before continuing on his run. He picked up his speed and ran towards the Climbing Wall, almost past the Amphitheater before deciding to use the various seating steps as part of his exercise. Then just as “We Will Rock You” by Queen came on he was already running past Thalia’s tree around the outskirts of camp.

He nodded his hello to some of the campers who were on patrol and part of the welcoming committee for the late arrivals of alumni. He stopped by the Strawberry Fields to step a few strawberries for the road, past the forge and then the Pegasus stables into the North woods.

He changed the settings on his wireless earbuds to sensor mode, so if it detected anything suspicious he would hear it immediately.

Jake was just sloshing his way across the creek when he got to the other side and noticed a body lying on the road.

“HOLY-” Jake nearly cursed when the body suddenly sat up.

“Jake?” he heard Connor call out to him.

Then Jake realized he’d tripped over himself and was flipped over on his back lying in moist dirt and stones.

Jake straightened himself out and sat up crossing his legs under each other as Connor approached him. He took out his earbuds and turned off his music player, putting the wireless earbuds in their slot in his music player’s protective case before slipping it back into his pocket. Connor sat down beside him as they stared out at the creek.

They both sat in silence.

“So…” Connor started but stopped.

Jake grabbed a stone and skipped it across the creek. It skipped once and sunk. He had never been really good at that.

“Jake.”

“Yea?”

“About yesterday…”

Jake didn’t want to think about yesterday. Hadn’t wanted to remember the way Connor let himself go, how he apologized and talked without end, just cried as if the world didn’t matter. Jake never had that. Jake had always wanted to blend into the crowd, never wanted to really stand out. Even if Connor had only been there, even if he only trusted Connor a little bit, or with his life he could never have let himself be so raw in front of another person—especially another demigod.

It’d been refreshing. Jake could remember a time when he was like that, so open and free. Now he realized he wasn’t who he originally wanted to be when he was younger. Before he found out he was a demigod. A half-blood.

There had been a time where his “gifts” had been a talent. When was it that his preferences had been his likes and desires and not an expectation?

“You hear me Jake?” Connor nudged him.

“Sorry, what?”

Connor kicked him but it was just a playful reprimanding kind of kick. He shoved his shoulder against Jake’s then too. “I’m telling you not to tell anyone about yesterday. Especially for who.”

“I think we all need a time and a place for those things,” Jake said. “Besides, that guy…” Jake sighed. He used to be close to Michael Yew, but that had been a long time ago and Jake had never really appreciate what happened to make Jake feel the mixed feelings he felt for him. “One can always hope, you know,” Jake finally said. Connor just nodded, but they both knew Michael wasn’t coming home.

They sat in silence for a good long time and sort of just watched the sun rise into the sky. It was a nice feeling.

“If I tell you something…” Connor started to say. Jake kind of wished the silence hadn’t been broken but he answered yes anyways, that he wouldn’t say a thing. “I fell in love twice, I think.”

“Really,” Jake said noncommittally.

“Yeah.”

“And you’re telling me because…”

Connor kicked him again. “Shut up, man. I just need someone to talk to,” he grumbled. Jake smiled instead of laughing, and Connor smiled back.

It was strange how many times he could remember seeing Connor and Travis smiling and laughing but this was the first time it seemed so genuine. Like Connor was genuinely enjoying the moment with Jake. He realized, then, that perhaps like many others he never really bothered to get to know the Stolls.

“Anyways, I was saying…” Connor starting clutching at the hair at the back of his head. It was starting to annoy Jake so he looked back up at the sky and waiting for Connor to find his words. “I think I…”

Jake decided to hazard the possibility, because he mostly already knew. “Michael Yew asked you out just before going into the Battle of Manhattan, I know.” Connor’s shocked face asked him how he knew. “I saw.” Connor’s face paled. “Don’t worry, no one else did,” he assured Connor. Connor nodded.

“The second person…” Connor bit his lip. He peeked a gaze at Jake, but Jake shrugged. The second person he didn’t know. Connor looked down, and mumbled, “Will.”

“Solace?”

Connor smacked him on his arm this time and he let out a yelp. “Who else would I be talking about?” he hissed.

“How would I know?” Jake asked, shocked that it was expected out of him.

“Forget it,” Connor growled. He mumbled some words angrily to himself and started to stand up.

Without thinking Jake grabbed Connor’s hand and pulled him back down. “Say what you have to say.” Connor glared at him. Jake let go of his hand then and held it up to show Connor he wasn’t going to do anything. “I’m just saying Connor, if you want to talk about it, or just any an ear and no opinions…”

Connor settled back down and this time kept his knees up. He kicked back and forth and then finally stopped. “It was only for a bit, though. So I don’t think… you know, that I really _liked_ him that way.”

“Will or Michael?”

“Will. He’s my bro, after all,” Connor answered. He didn’t seem to have a problem with talking now. He wasn’t exactly talking _with_ Jake either, more like to him.

“And Michael?”

“Well Michael… I don’t really know. I mean… I guess it could’ve happened. I’m not really into guys though you know.” Now Connor was kicking so he was swinging back and forth while balling himself up.

“But you fell in love with two males?” Jake asked. He felt confused now.

“Well I’ve had sex with girls, okay?” Connor snapped. Then he sighed after a moment. “I don’t really know. I mean, how do you fall in love really? And when we got that stupid prophecy I was really devastated and then Travis had to tell me what he thought about it which was what I was trying _NOT_ to think about,” Connor groaned. He stopped his back-and-forth swinging and kicked his heel into the dirt. He growled this time and then grumbled something and shouted inaudibly.

“What was that?”

“Will has Nico _di Angelo_. Angel. Travis has Michael, as in _Archangel_ Michael—or at least the name goes with it,” Connor snapped at Jake. This time he was looking straight at Jake, as if seeing him and telling him he was really dense.

“Ah, Michael Yew,” Jake finally understood.

Connor swerved around to face the creek again. “This is so frustrating! I should have never came back for this stupid thing!” he yelled. He threw his face into his hands, his palms digging into his eyes.

Jake really didn’t know how to work with that reaction.

“Well maybe you’ll find your angel after all?” Jake suggested. This time Connor’s hand shot out and backhanded him in the nose. “Dude!” he shouted as he stood up and backed away. “Come on, man.”

“Sorry!” Connor stood up and reached for him.

“Get away from me!” Jake yelled, holding his nose and backing away. He held out a hand to keep Connor at a distance. “Seriously, what is wrong with you? Do you always hit people you’re talking to? Is that a thing?”

“No, no!” Connor shook his head. He could see the panic in Connor’s expression. “I’m really sorry Jake!”

“Nope!” Jake took a step back when Connor stepped forward.

“Let me help!”

“You should stay at a safe distance before you end up making me blind!” Jake shouted backing away. He kept backing away and didn’t bother looking behind him.

Finally he felt his feet pulled under him, realizing he tripped over a giant log. Jake hit the ground harder than expected and then Connor who had been chasing after him somehow fell on top of him too.

“Ouch…”

“Dammit…” Jake groaned.

“My bad…”

“Yea you’re bad,” Jake grumbled as they both tried to get up. Connor’s legs were tangled with his—how that was possible he wasn’t really sure—and neither of them could do what they wanted. Finally they just gave up and laid there one on top of the other.

“This weirding you out?” Connor asked.

“Why you asking?”

“Cuz I normally freak out when I’m with guys,” Connor said.

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s not too much a big deal now, it’s not that bad,” Connor shrugged. Jake just nodded and stared at the morning sky. The clarity was soothing.

Someone once told him somewhere that seeing all that beautiful pink and orange usually meant pollution in the air. It hadn’t been a nice thought to the beauty of a sunrise. He also found that clearer sunrises were just a lot more soothing, almost peaceful.

“You planning to get off me soon?” Jake asked finally.

“Don’t know, you’re kinda comfortable to lie on…” Connor said.

“You’re not going to think so if I told you I’m gay,” Jake pointed out.

Connor looked up from laying his head on Jake’s chest. “Are you gay?” he asked.

Jake looked back up at the sky and put his hands under his head as a pillow.

“Mason!”

“Hm?”

“Dude, tell me if you’re gay man!” Connor snapped.

Jake closed his eyes as if pondering in thought for a moment.

“Jake!”

“You planning to stop using me like a mattress anytime soon?” Jake asked.

He felt movement, their legs untangling. He thought Connor was getting off him, and then he felt a weight on his pelvis and stomach. He opened his eyes and found Connor straddling him.

“So now you’re not a mattress.”

Jake rolled his eyes and sat up enough to lean on his elbows for support. He cocked his head to the side and tried to look at Connor in a different way physically. He still couldn’t see past that stern look.

So it wasn’t a poker face, and it wasn’t a trick. Connor really wanted to know and he was being really serious.

“You would think you’ll know seeing as you’re sitting on top of me,” Jake pointed out.

“So what, Mike’s gay and when I sit on top of him he doesn’t get turned on,” Connor shrugged.

“Mike?”

“Kahale.”

“Oh, Michael Kahale,” Jake nodded. He already knew who Connor meant, he just purposefully did that to get something out of Connor. Strangely, he didn’t want the conversation to end. He also thought it would bother him to have Connor on top of him like this but it didn’t really.

“So tell me already,” Connor demanded. Strange how the guy could demand something and yet look like an innocent puppy. What was with that? Jake shook his head with a sigh.

“I don’t see how it matters,” Jake sighed audibly. Then he clicked his tongue at Connor who undulated against Jake’s pelvis.

He hissed when Connor did it again, wincing almost. He was only in his boxers and sweatpants, and Connor was wearing mess shorts. It was really easy to feel what was between their crotch, and that undulation was a lot like a sensual thrust between bodies looking for release.

Jake almost squirmed. He wanted to get himself out of the situation immediately, but he also needed Connor to think he wasn’t at all affected.

“Answer!” Connor whined. He stared at Jake with those puppy dog eyes and it was impossible. Not at this stage.

Jake growled. “Dammit, don’t make me Stoll.”

“Make you what?” Connor asked. He didn’t even realize his hands were pressing down on Jake’s abs.

Jake didn’t want to tell Connor his secrets either. Blast it all. Jake had been keeping a relatively low profile, he’d never stood out or done anything outlandish so why now…

“Jacob…” Connor goaded Jake. He groaned, no one called him that not even his mother.

“It’s irrelevant,” he hissed, clenching his eyes closed.

“So me doing this doesn’t change anything?” Connor asked. He was undulating again, moving in that wave-like smooth pattern where his hips dipped his crotch against Jake’s pelvis in a rhythmic motion. Jake gasped, not realizing he’d been holding his breath for fear of breathing out a truth he’d kept in too long.

“Really, Jacob?” Connor asked, goading him still. This time Connor’s motions were going back further, bumping into the bulge he’d been hoping Connor wouldn’t feel.

“Why are you doing that?” Jake groaned.

“Testing you.” Connor shrugged innocently.

“You’re the devil,” Jacob groaned out.

“We’re Greek. We don’t have devils.”

“Stop it!” Jake snapped finally. They were dangerously close to something Jake had kept inside for far too long. He grabbed Connor’s waist and threw him off. He stood up and dusted himself off. “Don’t do those things unless you mean it, Connor,” he growled. Then Jake ran.

He ran like the coward he was. Like he’d always been.


	3. Stalking Night

Jake had been avoiding Connor the entire morning from breakfast to lunch. Connor didn’t like it. Whenever he tried to approach Jake was either bombarded with lagging questions by Hephaestus campers who couldn’t get Leo to answer their questions, or Jake was running off somewhere.

He knew he went a little too far in the morning. He probably shouldn’t had done that rub-on with Jake. Not like any guy could do that to another guy and just expect to get away with it scot-free. Connor did. He should just count his blessings on that and leave it alone.

Only, halfway through Connor sort of liked it. Not that he didn’t get off on girls—because he’d done enough to know he did, but he was pretty sure given a right amount of comfort level and time he could get off on guys too. Of course there was still the problem of his mother being a bit leery with Travis being bisexual—but he was pretty confident in calling his brother gay, seeing as Michael was his brother’s only sexual experience. But it wasn’t really for him to decide on that.

Connor sensed someone sit down next to him only to realize it was Travis. It was already dinner and Travis looked as exhausted as the rest of the alumni—except Clarisse La Rue who was rather exceptional at endurance.

“Tell me again why we _have_ to sit at our tables?” Travis grumbled. He pointed at the tables of the Big Three, which held Thalia Grace, Jason Grace, Percy Jackson, Tyson, Nico di Angelo and Hazel Levesque. Connor glanced over and then looked down at the food on his plate.

“Why am I eating broccoli?” Connor asked. What was on his plate was not exactly what he wanted to eat but apparently he’d eaten about half of it.

“You also haven’t given a sacrifice to our father,” Travis pointed out, then nodded his head towards the hearth. Connor rolled his eyes but reminded himself he should do that before dinner ended. He always forgot to honor the gods every so often because he was too busy eating or something else.

“And you’re lucky that we have a lot of people around,” Travis whispered.

“What?” Connor asked, suddenly noticing Travis’ grin.

“Someone might actually notice you’ve been staring at a particular blacksmith who is eating the exact same thing you’ve been picking at for the last half hour,” Travis whispered. Then his brother laughed and punched him on the shoulder. Connor wanted to kill his brother.

“Shut up Travis,” Connor hissed into his brother’s ear.

Travis wrapped an arm around Connor’s shoulders and pulled him up. “I’m not so thick I don’t notice my little brother chasing after Jake Mason,” Travis grinned into his ear. Connor tried to jab Travis in the gut but his brother knew that technique, and usually they didn’t have their little rivalries in front of others but Connor didn’t appreciate Travis acting all high and mighty.

“Yeah, well at least Jake didn’t mess me up for you to handle,” Connor growled into his brother’s ear out of spite. Travis clicked his tongue at Connor as they pulled away.

“Gonna have to do better Con,” Travis smiled at him.

Connor just rolled his eyes with a dramatic toss of his head as he turned away from his brother. He ignored Travis’ laugh when his eyes landed on Jake Mason eating his steak with broccoli and mashed potatoes.

He was mentally chastising himself for being so engrossed and frustrated with not speaking with Jake Mason, he’d actually been so obviously apparent.

Connor left his dinner half eaten, mostly because he wasn’t even tasting the food. Also because who in the right mind made the choice of eating GREEN food? Ugh. Connor made his sacrifice to the gods, lingering a little longer to pray to his father to give him to strength to last the alumni event.

Avoiding everyone he knew Connor slipped into the Hermes cabin again to change his clothes. He set his sleepwear and bath towel on his top bunk before putting on his running shoes. Connor put on his earbuds and turned on his iPod before he ran out of the cabin.

He ran without thinking or really looking and noticing. He ran and ran. He ran until he forgot almost everything and was just running, seeking the thrill that made his heart pound hard and the burning in his lung was forgotten too. Connor didn’t even notice the music that was playing in his ear, he just ran as he drowned them out.

“Whoa!”

Connor was unable to stop himself in front of the person standing by the river. They collided and Connor found his face stuffed into the person’s flat chest. The part of him that was almost always running on hyper commented in his side of the brain how it would have been great to have face-planted between two D cups. The more instinctual part of him tensed.

The adrenaline from his run subsided quickly as he realized who he was on top of. It was Jake Mason, the man he’d been trying to have a conversation with the entire day. His lungs suddenly filled up and clogged itself while his heart started to race. Connor slowly pushed himself up, groaning as he felt the pain in his face from knocking against such an unexpectedly hard chest.

Connor didn’t have a lot of time to react when Jake grabbed Connor and rolled on top of him. At first Connor wasn’t sure how to react to that but then Jake quickly got off of him and pulled something from a holster on his belt. Before long Connor watched as Jake rush into battle with a monster Connor couldn’t quite make out in the dark with a collapsible sword.

“What…” Connor was finally able to ask, but he was still speechless. In a sense it was more like he couldn’t decide what to say next. _Thank you for saving my ass? What are you doing out here? Nice night to go monster slaying? You come here a lot?_

Instead when Jake came back what he did was sputtered nonsense and said, “That was pretty damn hot.”

Jake glared down at him. It was the first time Connor could recall in his memory that Jake was glaring when he wasn’t in battle. Connor swallowed hard as Jake approached him, throwing a broken sword on the rocky streamside. Jake grabbed him by his arm and pulled him up, nearly going toe to toe with him.

“What do you think you’re doing Stoll?” Jake growled angrily.

“I _was_ running.”

Jake rolled his eyes as he let go of Connor’s arm. He felt the pressure release and the pain that lingered there. Jake was angry.

“You’re a grown man,” Jake was mumbling as he turned towards where he’d been finding that now disintegrated monster.

Connor put his earbuds away suddenly feeling really irritated. “Are you trying to blame _me_ for a monster attacking?”

Jake didn’t say anything and then sighed out really loudly. “No,” Jake finally said, “you contributed to the fact.” Jake picked up the broken iron sword and studied it in the light of the night. “You shouldn’t be running in the dark anyways. It’s dangerous. Especially here.”

“I can’t be caught.”

Jake gave him a strange side smile. It seemed playful. Almost whimsical. It sort of annoyed Connor. A lot.

“I can’t,” Connor insisted, because it looked like Jake didn’t believe his childish pride.

“I’m sure.” Jake was turning away to walk back to camp.

“You don’t believe me?”

Jake shrugged as he continued walking. Before Connor realized what he was doing he was running up to Jake and walking next to him. Jake just did that smile of his again and frowned as he walked straight ahead. 

* * *

 

Jake was heading towards the Forge. It might be closed for the campers but before coming he’d asked for permission to use it regardless of the time of the day. Jake had headed out for Camp the moment he received the okay from Mr. D and Chiron. Holding the broken pieces of the iron sword in his hand he thought on all the flaws he needed to fix on his next experiment.

He vaguely remembered Connor walking next to him, but the guy wasn’t talking so he didn’t bother saying anything either. At the moment he didn’t have the free time to think about anything beside the projects you had to work on when he got back. He needed to make as much headway with the time he had with the Forge when he wasn’t around trying to be a mentor for the current Hephaestus cabin.

“What’s with that scary looking face?”

Jake was pulled out of his thoughts and plans with that question. He looked at Connor who had innocently asked the question. Jake frowned, because he knew what his face looked like. Scary. Ugly. Dirty. The people in the town he grew up in had always found him a little odd. His mother had come from a small town, and to be unwed and raise a child on her own had been difficult. A lot of speculation went about his origins, and where he disappeared to during the summer. Sometimes he came to Camp in the winter too. That was then.

Jake’s mother and his great grandparents had loved him, and had always told him he was handsome. If only he would remember to wash his face after working on a project. He never saw the reason why. He learned how to work on cars by the time he was twelve. He’d been able to fix computers, build the most elaborate projects for school, and once he’d even accidentally took down the entire block’s electric power.

However Jake didn’t live a wonderful childhood. He remembered being scorned and being judged. He just never bothered with it when he grew up old enough to realize that he didn’t need those types of people in his life. After graduating high school in the ten top, despite his learning disability because of the dyslexia he went off to college faraway from home. Something he wondered had been the right decision, because now he was back home and all he was doing was living at his great grandparents’ house with his mother. He was working for his grandfather who was still only in his fifties so he hadn’t decided to retire yet, but there wasn’t much to do with being one of ten mechanic shops in a town with at most a thousand people living in it.

“Jake?”

“It’s nothing.” Jake started to walk towards camp again. He kept an ear out for more monsters. Coming here was something of a vacation for him. He was tired of work at his grandfather’s mechanics shop, because he could tell his grandfather did not like him. He also could tell that his grandparents were ashamed of him being born from a supposedly unknown father, and felt that he should be grateful he was given a job at the mechanics shop. Of course Jake wasn’t very good with reading people or understanding people so he wasn’t sure if that was exactly it either.

After getting a call from his mother this morning Jake had found it increasingly difficult to handle people. He liked handling machines, he would prefer that over anything. Connor Stoll was the last person he wanted to handle, in fact he could barely bring it to himself to try to act social.

“What’s up with you, man?”

“Nothing is _up_ ,” he sighed out again. Jake felt a headache coming. Maybe another mostly sleepless night. He probably should call his mother too.

“There’s a joke there just waiting to happen.”

“Stop.”

“What?”

“I don’t take jokes well, Connor. It’s why we didn’t spend a lot of time together,” Jake truthfully told Connor. In a way it was more truth than lies. There were other reasons why he rarely approached Connor Stoll if there wasn’t any reason or business to do so.

“Uptight much?” Connor rolled his eyes.

“Weren’t you running?”

“Wanna know _why_ I was running?”

“Not really.”

“Then you’re stuck with me following you.”

Jake held back a groan. Connor Stoll was a difficult man to handle. He wondered how Michael Kahale could handle both Connor and Travis. It seemed like a nightmare.

The entire trip back Jake heard a lot of Connor just rambling on. He talked about how he hated Michael Kahale’s guts—he still called him by Mike, something that Jake and a lot of other campers in previous years knew he disliked being called by. Connor also talked about how he was glad Nico and Will were together even if both of them didn’t realize how much they needed each other. Then Connor talked about Alethea, someone Jake had no reference or memory of, so he figured it was Connor’s girlfriend. He talked about how adorable she was, and how hilarious it was when he messed with her. She hated him apparently, but Connor had a wide smile when he mentioned that fact.

“So, anyway why are you using an iron sword?”

Jake was just at the Forge when he decided to stop. He turned to Connor standing slightly behind him and to the side. “You gonna cry?”

“What?”

“I’m the only one in the Forge during the night. You know we don’t actually have to follow the rules anymore right?”

“Yeah, so?” Connor seemed confused. He probably was. Jake wasn’t really good with conversation topics, but he was good at listening at least. He did a lot of it growing up. People were always trying to whisper when he walked past. Not like they were all judgment whispers, sometimes they just didn’t want him to hear.

“If you needed a place to vent or break down, I’ll be in the Forge most nights.” Then Jake went inside. He didn’t wait for Connor. Wasn’t sure if he should have. He wasn’t sure if Connor was going to pick up on his offer either, but for now Jake needed to focus on something other than Connor Stoll. Like the iron sword prototype in his hand.


	4. Jake Mason has Secrets

For the next three nights Jake would work through until dawn on his prototype. Connor would always join him just after lights out, wearing his shorts and a tank top or muscle shirt. He’ll come in, stand around talking a mile a minute until Jake tells him to stand back because he was wearing too little to be close to the fire.

On the fourth night Connor asked him why he was making a sword out of iron. Jake didn’t really want to talk about his project. It was something he’d been working on for years, first meticulously trying to figure out the design and make-up as well as how to make it operational. Then when he left Camp Half-Blood he spent the years away trying to make it a reality and fixing it or completely trashing an idea for a new one. Jake didn’t want to tell Connor what his project really was, because no one had ever asked and he had never expected anyone to. And if he failed he didn’t want anyone to know that he did.

“It’s a prototype,” Jake had elected to say that night. “Celestial bronze doesn’t come cheap.” Blessed metals are rare to begin with.

“But it breaks apart easier doesn’t it?” Connor had asked.

“It does, but you never see Nico di Angelo’s sword breaking apart do you,” Jake had said without taking concentration off his work. Tempering the iron was difficult, and a long process since Jake was doing it by hand in an old fashion way.

“It’s made out of Stygian iron, right?”

“It’s mined and forged in the Underworld, and tempered in the River Lethe. It’s near impossible to break because of that,” Jake explained as he decided the explanation was good enough. Connor probably understood but when Jake finally stopped his work for the night and looked over the man was pouting.

“What is it?” Jake had asked.

“Nothing.”

Connor was withdrawing from him, Jake had saw that. Jake knew it was probably his fault. He probably said something or didn’t say something right again. It made people uncomfortable and displease with him. Even now Jake wasn’t sure how he should fix the problem because he didn’t really know what the problem was.

“Uh…” Jake stuttered as he tried to think of something to say.

“You’re always working.”

For a moment Jake paused. Well, yeah. What else was he supposed to do? Jake didn’t know how to reply to that. It sounded like a complaint but Jake wasn’t sure why it was. Most people tend to complain when a twenty-three-year-old man can’t provide for at least himself.

“Why?” Connor blurted out loudly. Jake backed up, nearly knocking over a bucket of water. “You don’t have any fun. You know you’re supposed to treat this as a reunion right?”

Jake told him the truth that night that he only wanted the use of the Forge. Connor seemed disappointed somehow, and for the rest of the time that Jake was there tinkering with other things besides his project Connor was quiet. So quiet it was a bit eerie.

Connor wasn’t there the next night. On the last night, Jake sat down at his cabin’s table and ate with his cabin. They were always buzzing around, making shifty eyes towards the Stoll brothers. When Kahale wasn’t around they looked between him and Travis, but Jake had a feeling they had mistaken him for Connor. Jake really wished the younger generation would stop worrying about his love life, and more so he would love it if they weren’t so accepting that they would want to put him together with a man to begin with. At this point in their life learning the tools of their trades was more important than whether or not their half-sibling who they only just met a week and a half ago was dating someone.

Jake was biting into his half-eaten burger when he felt a familiar buzz in his jean pockets. He then heard the muffled ringtone and stood up. He didn’t say anything as he wiped his mouth and hands and left the table. Some of the kids noted him leaving but none of them tried to stop him to ask where he was going.

He answered his cell phone just as he reached the Amphitheater. “What’s wrong?” he asked, worried.

“Nothing, I was just wondering how you were on your vacation,” his mother said on the other end. Jake inwardly sighed. His mother worried too much, because he never talked about having a girlfriend when he was a teenager, then he left camp and went to college, and because of the talk they had a month ago. They never talked about that topic again and Jake never brought it up again, he’d never planned to talk to his mother about his future or his sex life or his dating life for that matter. She worried, saying those things doting mothers said that embarrassed their grown children in front of the entire population of the world.

“I’m fine. I’m enjoying it here,” Jake said. Of course it was something he always said whenever he went anywhere and she asked how he was.

“You’re hiding away in that Forge aren’t you,” his mother said in a gentle scolding tone. Jake hid a smile on his face but his tension disappeared and he felt completely at ease. “Sometimes a bit of human connection is good.”

“I know,” he said, hearing the familiar way his rough speech and deep tone turn gentle and soft. He got called a gentle teddy bear once when someone he used to know overheard him on the phone. Jake had always been careful since then to stay away from people when he answered the phone.

“So? Rehashed any old crushes?” his mother asked enthusiastically.

Jake became alarm, and felt his face heat up as he quickly denied there ever being any romance to be rehashed. His mother only laughed on the phone as he grunted and tried to pull himself together.

Jake sat down at the top of the Amphitheater seating, seeing another person in the middle section on his right side. They seemed busy looking at the sky so Jake didn’t worry too much over it. He stared off into the distance as his mother just went on about the news back home in Nowhere, Colorado.

“Mom…” Jake sighed. She often talked on and on, but there were times when they were together where all that mattered was just being there together and talking wasn’t needed.

“Yes?”

“You remember a month ago?” Jake asked. She was silent. “When we had that talk about me and my future plans?”

“Oh, right. And don’t call it that,” his mom said. Jake tried not to laugh again. She always made him smile somehow.

“Anyways,” Jake sighed as he decided to confess to his mother, “Let’s continue that talk for a bit.”

“What, now? Don’t you want to be at home when you tell me?” His mother sounded enthusiastic about it. Samantha Mason loved coddling her only child. Jake didn’t like it but he let her anyways. He knew that she wanted to love him enough for two parents.

“Right now is fine,” Jake said. He tried not to say that it gave him strength to say it being at Camp again. “Anyways, there was someone a long time ago. About seven years ago… remember the first war I told you about?” His mother was silent. “I never could approach them.”

“Why not?”

Jake steeled himself. “There was someone else.” It was hard to think about. He just wanted his mother to know it wasn’t like he went around trying to be single.

“So you just let them go?”

Jake knew she was going to ask that. “It’s fine, isn’t it?” Jake groaned. “It’s not like I need to reproduce an heir or anything!” Jake shouted. He felt irritated dwelling on the topic. “I just wanted you to know, alright? Because I know you worry and you feel sorry but you should stop!”

“I want you to be happy.”

Out of anger Jake snapped, “I don’t need love to be happy. I don’t need another blasted woman in my life!” Jake hung up on his mother without a warning for the first time in his life.  

“What?” he snapped at the person he felt walking up to him. He glared in their general direction until he realized that it was Connor. Just as he was about to say something in the heat of the moment Connor’s hands flew up and slapped him in the face, nails scrapping upward almost hitting his eyes. He seethed in a breath at the sudden swift and sharp pain of getting accidentally smacked in the face by the accident-prone Stoll.

“Sorry!” Connor repeatedly apologize as he tried to gingerly move Jake’s hands from his face to look at the damage. “I keep doing that.” Connor sounded just a bit regretful.

 Jake immediately took a few deep breaths and calmed himself. “Need something?” he asked more coolly, as he let his hands drop and allowed Connor to inspect his face. He had a feeling Connor never accidently hurt anyone before, that he was purposely having these accidents to get back at Jake for some elaborate thing that happened over seven years ago when they went to camp together.

“No, I was sitting over there and I thought I would tell you I could hear your conversation,” Connor said. He said it so normally, so naturally it almost came off as sarcasm. He wouldn’t put it past a Stoll to be ambiguously sarcastic either.

Jake continued to look out the distance as Connor continued to examine the scratches on his face gingerly. Neither of them tried to continue the conversation or start a new one. Then Jake finally glanced at Connor who was only a few inches shorter than him. Connor looked like he was contemplating something so Jake looked back at the distance.

Then he felt himself yanked down a little. He instinctively hunched and then there was wet tongue swiping across his cheek.

Jake was standing dumbfounded still hunched over a little when Connor pulled his face away from Jake’s. “What…” Jake couldn’t bring himself to ask what Connor thought he was doing.

“It’s just a couple scratches. All it needs is spit,” Connor said.

Jake felt his reasoning crumbling into a pile of rocks at his feet.

“Not like you can lick your own face,” Connor shrugged. Jake frowned as he heard his self-control be grounded into dust. “Besides I’m responsible for bodily harming such a beautiful specimen—or so says the Aphrodite girls,” Connor just had to add in a little attitude and horrible mimicking in tune with a perfectly executed eye roll.

Jake watched his metaphoric dust of discipline be blown and scattered into the wind.

Licking his thumb Jake calmly swiped the same thumb over Connor’s bottom lip. Then watched as Connor’s eyes showed the gears in his head moving in recognition to the act. Jake kissed him, pressing their lips together before feeling Connor return the kiss rather hungrily.

Jake opened his eyes and pulled away in a panic. He hastily apologized as he tried to walk away from Connor. He hadn’t meant to do that. He’d only meant to… What had Jake meant to do?

“I’m sorry, Connor.” 

* * *

 

Connor stood feeling pretty abandoned after being kissed so passionately and thoroughly. He ran his hand through his long hair which needed a cut after such a long year. Not that he could tell but he felt like his hair was tousled and that it was a clear indication that he’d just been close to making out in public with another guy. Not only that, but bad memories didn’t assault him.

Not that the bad memories were as bad as Travis’. There should have been some kind of negativity lingered or haunted him like Travis. There wasn’t any, it was like the memories were simply just that. It felt strange thinking of those traumatizing memories like they were embarrassing moments in one’s life that was shut away deep in the recesses of the brain.

Coming back to the situation at hand, that kiss had been amazing. Who knew Jake Mason had been such a good kisser? Connor wanted another taste of those soft but bruising lips, and that controlling kiss that took Connor’s breath away.

But of course Jake left him standing there feeling abandoned. Connor groaned, hating himself for feeling like a thrown-away puppy in some cliché soap opera. Connor turned around to leave the opposite direction of Jake Mason when he came face to face with someone even taller than Jake. His worst enemy, Michael Kahale.

“He’s _the_ Jake Mason, right?” Michael asked, arms naturally folding against his chest with an imposing form.

“What do you mean _‘the’_ Jake Mason?” Connor asked, confused.

“If Leo Valdez is the boy genius of the Hephaestus cabin, then Jake Mason is the guy who works ten times as hard to do the work of a genius,” Michael said as he continued to watch Jason’s retreating back in the distance of the darkening evening. Connor pressed his lips tightly together, he wasn’t sure he was all that glad about how Michael just described Jake. “He’ll be a good influence on a lot of people.”

“What do you mean?” cautiously he ventured the question. Michael had this thing where he sometimes blindsides people with stuff they weren’t expecting. Like how when Michael and Travis finally got together officially.

“Sometimes even if you have the talent for it, if you don’t have the passion for it then you can only go so far,” Michael explained to him. It seemed today Michael wasn’t snarky or sarcastic. It was like Michael was trying to tell him something without really telling him anything. “Sometimes all it takes is passion to get you anywhere. Octavian lacked the passion and hard work to be an _augur_ , little can be said about the natural talents he did possess and what he did with them.” Michael seemed to be done with that direction of the topic after saying them. “Jason Grace had talent to be a _praetor_ but his passion—his will exceeded that talent, and he works hard to continue to stay true to that will.”

“So you’re saying it’s a good thing?”

“Romans don’t look too kindly to people who give up on a leadership position without a fight,” Michael said bluntly. He meant that Jake’s actions when he let Leo become the cabin counselor were considered weak in the eyes of the Roman demigods. It would explain why the Vulcan demigods had sometimes walked right past without greeting Jake when the alliance first began years ago.

“I see…”

“But as time went on, he has proven himself to be quite exceptional,” Michael smiled.

“What do you mean?”

Connor didn’t recall hearing anything about Jake since the guy left Camp as an 18-year-old. What was so exceptional, and exactly what was Michael trying to tell him anyways? Connor was itching to smack Michael in the face and knee him in the gut and demand straight answers.

“You know the bracelets that Percy and the others wear that keeps their scent off from monsters.” Michael pointed at his bare wrist to indicate what he meant. Connor did recall such a device. “Jake was the one that helped Leo get it to work. Of course he let Leo take all the credit because Leo did all the work, but it wouldn’t have worked if Jake hadn’t met him in New Rome. Jake gave him a few suggestions about how to get the bracelets to work and just disappeared.” Connor felt like he’d just been punched in the gut by the air.

“That’s pretty amazing.”

“He also does commission work.”

“How do you know that?” Connor found himself asking without meaning to. He was still too awed by the fact that Leo who was always coming up with amazing ideas had actually been helped by Jake to create one of the best mechanisms to appear in demigod history.

Look smug Michael reached into the holster on his belt and pulled out a baton sized golden rod from its case. Connor remembered the weapon well. He watched as Michael had the collapsible weapon extend to its full size and length. A javelin that could extend and retract based on Michael’s will—much like the red rod _Nyoibou_ wielded by Son Goku from _‘Dragon Ball’._ Of course the difference was the red rod could extend for almost forever. Michael’s javelin was at a fixed length that could shorten into the size of a sword, dagger, or baton and anything in between.

“I asked him to make this,” Michael said after Connor already figured it out. Michael smiled as he looked at his javelin before having it retract into a baton and putting it away again. “He told me it wasn’t the best, but it’s pretty well done and very handy.” And Michael probably had four extras hidden somewhere in the house like how cops had guns in their house in case of invasion.

“Why’d he take the job from you?” Connor sighed. Of all the people Jake could have made a weapon for, why did it have to be Michael Kahale?

“He needed to experiment on the mechanism he was developing for something similar. Plus the money was good, and he needed funds at the time.” Michael shrugged as he thought something over. Connor wasn’t fooled. Michael had a tendency to know people’s secrets—sometimes their deepest and darkest secrets. Judging from the heated call Jake had earlier on the phone Connor suspected Jake had a few mysteries of his own. “I was thinking of asking him to make another collapsible weapon for Ernest as a present.”

“Why are you telling me all this?”

“Why I wonder…” Michael smiled before waving goodbye. The man walked away rather calmly and confidently. Connor really hated this guy. Why the hell of all the possible demigods, children of Aphrodite or Venus, and all the Romans did Travis have to lay eyes on Michael Kahale—former right-hand man to an abomination like Octavian _“Augustus”_?

With more frustration than he started with when he thought to unwind by looking at the night sky, he left the Amphitheater to change his gear for a run instead. Now if only he could manage to avoid his brother who seemed to have a problem minding his own love life, Connor might just not kill someone.

And who cared if Jake Mason had secrets?


	5. Lost

Jake knew tonight wasn’t his last night. He’d already discussed with Chiron and Mr. D that if they allowed him to use the Forge as he has been for another week, that he would continue with guiding and teaching the Hephaestus cabin and anyone else in the Armory and/or Forge related courses. It was a lot of work in the day but at least he would be able to use the Forge to continue with his prototype.

It was midnight—probably, Jake wasn’t really looking at the clock—when he looks up from his little pet project. He couldn’t focus on the prototype so he decided to just start tinkering and hammering away with whatever instinctively came to mind.

“What’s up, Stoll?” Jake asked. He put down his things and began to wash the grease off his fingers.

“I was…” the other man stumbled over his words as he awkwardly walked over toward Jake. His hair was tousled, presumably from getting out of bed after tossing and turning. His lips looked dried, and his face was flush, and he couldn’t seem to look Jake in the eye. “About what happened earlier…?”

Jake sighed. “Are you trying to ask me about what happened between me and Connor?” he asked with a heavy breath. It was difficult to tell Connor and Travis apart, but Travis had a couple inches on Connor, and Connor’s hair looked softer.

“You can tell us apart?” Travis Stoll gasped as he looked up in shock. Those eyes lit up as they looked into his, and Jake felt himself wash off. The Stolls were known for many things, but it was that face that can be both manly and childish that got to Jake. He closed his eyes and turned away so he wouldn’t be persuaded by those eyes.

“Where’s your husband?” Jake asked as he turned away and began to put his trinkets away. He hadn’t actually looked at what he was really doing, but now that he wasn’t so concentrated on it he felt rather embarrassed for his creations to be laid out in public. At the moment Jake wished he had Leo’s magical tool belt, so he could just stuff everything into one place. Instead he was throwing things into organized drawers on the worktable, and making sure what needed to be cool was cooled and what needed to be properly stored was.

After some time he realized Travis hadn’t answered him. He turned around to meet Stoll’s gaze.

“How do you know I have a husband?” Travis asked with a suspicious tone.

Jake suppressed the notion to roll his eyes. “Michael Kahale is like a second limb on you.” Travis folded his arms to his chest, holding a very imposing pose. Jake wouldn’t be surprised if he learned that from Kahale, because that was how the man carried himself. Jake turned back to finish clearing up. “Connor talks a lot when he’s here. That’s how I knew.”

“Oh…” Travis sounded uncertain suddenly once Connor came up. “Well, so about earlier…”

“It’s none of your business,” Jake plainly stated. “I don’t know what you heard or think you saw, but it isn’t any of your business.” Jake knew he didn’t have a right to claim that outright. In fact it was in Travis’ right to ask Jake to explain himself. Jake just didn’t want to, because he didn’t want to have anything to explain. So instead he was defensive.

“Okay, fine,” Travis sighed out. That response was not expected. He had predicted Travis to be a bit pushier. Connor never wanted to drop a topic of conversation if it was too interesting or juicy. That Travis gave up right away said volumes about how he’s changed since the sixteen-year-old boy running around the hills laughing with his brother over their latest shenanigan.

Jake looked at him with doubt and a bit of suspicion. Travis didn’t respond to his look. Biting his lower lip Travis looked to be contemplating something and mumbling to himself.

“So the reason why I came…” Travis started to say but then stopped. He seemed to be reconsidering what to say again.

Figuring that it would take a lot of goading to get Travis to speak to him if he didn’t do something, Jake walked up to the other man. Standing mere inches from each other Jake looked into Travis’ blue eyes. He heard a sharp intake of breath and felt the tension between them. He knew they were both feeling awkward but he didn’t really know how to handle someone as fidgety as the Stolls either. How Michael Kahale managed it was a mystery.

“You’re a little…” Travis mumbled and then cleared his throat. Jake could see the appeal, although considering the years he’d spent around the Stolls he’s surprised he has only just noticed. Travis blushed easily when he wasn’t causing trouble, and double that with a rather manly face that can become childish right away. “Too close.” Travis stepped back from him for more space.

“Why are you here?” Jake asked finally. “To see if I can tell you and Connor apart?”

Travis blinked a bit, as if something cleared up. “Well I am surprised you can, but no not really.” Travis hesitated again, thought and mumbled under his breath then looked at Jake. “Do you know where Connor might be?”

“You’re his brother shouldn’t you know?” Jake did not voice out that they were near inseparable and almost identical. That would open up a completely different set of conversations.

“Well he went running earlier I think, since his running shoes are gone,” Travis said. “But he hasn’t come back yet.”

Jake was concerned but he wasn’t invested in the idea that Connor was in any trouble. If anything Connor would be the trouble.

“He’s an adult, you don’t have to worry over him,” Jake sighed. He said that but he didn’t really believe it. Connor might be twenty years old but the man was still part child.

Travis glared at Jake, pinning him down with a stare that spoke more volumes than mere words. _Connor was_ his _brother. Connor was his_ family _. Connor was important. Connor mattered. Connor was a part of Travis._ Regardless of how old those two got Jake could tell their bond was strong, and that the depth of feelings they had for each other probably transcended the plane of mischievous and loving siblings. As though growing up Connor and Travis had always known they would always have each other.

“We searched for him but we haven’t found him yet,” Travis said, choosing not to argue and tell Jake the facts. Jake knew that Travis was asking for his help. Wanted his help in fact.

Just as Jake was taking off his blacksmith’s apron to hang over his borrowed workstation he spotted someone else rushing into the Forge. It was Will, following him was Michael. Will was about the same height as Jake.

“We still can’t find him,” both reported. This time Travis showed the worry on his face, and Jake noted how he instinctively drew closer to Michael. Michael instinctively accepting Travis’ need for comfort by drawing him into a one-arm hug.

“Where have you checked?” he asked while walking over. He busied himself with rubbing the grease off his hands with a graying rag that had once been a pristine white towel when he first arrived.

“Everywhere!” Travis exclaimed. It was clear he was beginning to panic. Michael patted his back, let him go and looked at Jake in an expectant way.

“The North Woods?” Jake suggested.

“We’ve covered every inch of that place,” Travis said. He looked indignant, almost offended that Jake would judge or doubt his words. “I checked it myself.”

“Just because you know the layout of the land doesn’t mean you know all the little nooks and crannies. He could have fallen into a forgotten trap hole, or got caught in a net,” Jake said, knowing that Michael very much agreed with that thought. Michael would have said something if Jake hadn’t. It was probably a good thing Jake said it instead of Michael or Will, and he could see it in the way the two slightly looked away. Travis would have been more hurt if someone close to him had pointed the flaw in that logic. Camp Half-Blood was designed to keep demigods safe from monsters, but also designed to teach them that they were never always safe. Monsters lurked in the North Woods.

“Connor isn’t that…” Travis started to say but even the confidence in his voice faltered.

Jake decided to interrupt his train of thought. “Connor gets distracted easily, as most of us do. Of course we grow out of it once we’ve adjusted to battle as adults, but we are still human. Connor is not always vigilant…” Jake paused for a moment himself. He decided to add, just as he was grabbing his prototype iron sword, “Unless he’s being a menace.” Jake must have smiled or something, but Travis seemed eased and smiled at him. As though Jake had somehow just reassured Travis that he would find Connor.

 

Jake didn’t find Connor. After about an hour, two harpies and a drakon—what was a drakon doing in the North Woods?—later Jake gave up trying to find Connor. It was too dark and too dangerous, the monsters could smell his scent and sense he was preoccupied trying to find something or someone. He was distracted. Jake was headed back towards the Forge when he saw a shoe on the ground.

Jake picked it up, trying to recall how Connor’s running shoes looked like. He decided to return to camp with it, sword and shoe in hand. The tracks he could make in the dim light of the night was the size of a man but could wasn’t sure if those were Connor’s tracks. He traced the tracks back to Camp but they faded into the grass. Since Jake didn’t recall making any promised rendezvous with the others who had said they would also search the woods, Jake returned to the Forge.

As he was walking in, feeling like he had wasted his time, he heard clattering. Jake glared towards the sound, watching as someone moved from underneath the workstation desk and stood up.

“H-hey,” Connor cleared his throat as he stood up. Jake walked over, wondering exactly what Connor was trying to hide behind his hand. “You weren’t here so…” Connor’s shoulders went up as if to hide his ears. Those brilliant blues noticed the shoe in Jake’s hand.

Quietly and calmly Jake put his prototype in its password protected case for the night. He turned to Connor was still looked guiltily between Jake and his obviously missing shoe in Jake’s hand.

“I wasn’t trying to…”

“What were you trying to find at my workstation?” Jake asked in a calm tone that did not reflect the anger raging inside him. “Where have you been?”

“W-What?” Connor squirmed, his face flushing. It must be weird to be reprimanded and questioned like a disobedient preteen who was out past curfew by fifteen minutes. “I-I…” Connor looked away. That usually was a telltale sign that someone was going to lie. “It wasn’t like we made a promise to meet up tonight or anything,” Connor grumbled, still holding his hands behind his back.

The flushing man inched back a little until he hit a beam and knocked his head on the shelf built there to keep certain items handy. It was made so the campers wouldn’t knock into it so steps were necessary to reach the items, but of course Connor was a little too tall.

Jake slowly made his way towards Connor. He wasn’t cornered yet, but it seemed like he had already accepted that he was. Connor pressed himself as far back against the support beam. Jake glanced down at Connor’s shoeless socked foot.

“Had an accident on your run?” Jake asked, looking right into Connor’s eyes. Connor frowned at him, trying to seem powerful despite that he was hunching a little because the shelf was in the way of his head and pressing himself against the beam.

“That’s none of your business.”

“Oh, it is,” Jake said. Kneeling he grabbed Connor’s tensed leg by the ankle and put on the shoe. “Seems like I found a fairytale princess.” He would have laughed at his own joke if it wasn’t so lame. Putting on the well-used running shoe back on Connor’s foot he pulled on the tongue of the shoe and tightened the laces. Tying a perfect knot Jake noticed from the corner of his eyes how Connor’s knees buckled for a moment, locking into place as if he’d simply just lost his stance. “A certain important figure in your life came to me today because he apparently lost you,” Jake added.

He ran the tips of his fingers around the cuff of Connor’s ankle high athletic sock. Jake almost lost his firm expression when he saw the goosebumps rising on Connor’s leg. He ran his hand up against Connor’s leg, knowing Connor hadn’t yet guessed Jake’s true intention.

Slowly but not too slowly Jake let his hand trace up Connor’s leg, softly breeze over the fabric of his running shorts. Without hesitation but with a slower pace than before Jake wrapped his hand around Connor’s hip and slowly caressed the man’s back. That was when Connor’s eyes widened as Jake stood at his full height and met his gaze.

Jake’s hand was wrapped around one of Connor’s wrists. He pulled Connor’s hand away from behind him. The momentum and shock allowed Jake to also catch hold of Connor’s other unsuspecting hand. When Jake inspected both hands for whatever he’d been hiding all he saw was blood smeared on one hand and dripping from another.

“It isn’t what it looks like!” Connor denied the suspicion immediately. Jake wondered why Connor felt he needed to defend himself as he rushed Connor to his wooden stool at his workbench. Jake made him sit down and pulled the first aid kit attached underneath the hollowed spacing of the workbench at his station. “It isn’t!” Connor shouted desperately as Jake was opening the kit with one hand, the other still holding to the bleeding on Connor’s right palm. “Believe me, I wasn’t trying to-”

Jake elected to interrupt the panicked Connor by yelling, “-To what? Exactly how did you get hurt? Because you were being stupid! Of course you didn’t mean to, but you don’t think at all unless it’s for fun and games.” Jake took a breath as he saw the disappointment and the fear and the loss expression on Connor’s face. The man had turned into a puppy again. Jake sighed out of exhaustion.

“I… didn’t want to go to Will,” Connor admitted as Jake took out the necessary items to quickly disinfect and bandage the wound. Connor wasn’t looking at Jake’s face. “Or Travis.”

“And Michael?”

Connor pouted, his cheeks blowing up as he looked despicable thinking of Michael at all. Even in a situation like this. “Why would I ever go to Michael?”

“Because he was running around the entire camp with Will and Travis looking for your quirky butt,” Jake said. He knew he was being short with Connor who was hurt, might have been running for his life against a monster in the dark, who had felt comfortable enough to look for refuge in the Forge where Jake would be. Still a part of him that just would never stop running hated how thoughtless and dangerous Connor’s actions had been.

“He would have told Travis,” Connor said softly. “And he doesn’t owe me anything.”

Jake focused on the wound and opened his hand, now smeared with grease and blood. Connor kept his hand held out as Jake tried to rub away the blood and grease on his already dirty rag. Jake then noticed the incision on Connor’s wrist. It looked peculiarly like a self-injury. Of course Jake wasn’t an expert. The wound was horizontal, not diagonal, and it wasn’t bleeding too badly, but enough to leave a bloody mess on Connor’s other hand and Jake’s hand.

Jake tried to clean and dry the wound before carefully disinfecting it. Then he did his best to put a gauze over the wound and wrap up Connor’s wrist nicely and tightly. It was completely silent as he did this, feeling the way Connor was now observing Jake’s movements and his slightest reactions. Jake was used to not showing any reactions to stares and scrutiny or surveillance. He had an entire town growing up that had helped him learn to act naturally despite the judgement or curiosity.

Feeling his work was finished Jake began to stand up from where he’d been kneeling on the floor. “You should go to the infirmary later,” he suggested. A cut like that wouldn’t be too hard to heal. A little ambrosia or nectar and a goodnight’s sleep would help. By morning there wouldn’t be much evidence of it besides a light scar.

“I…” Connor looked down, frowning at the wound that was now patched up.

“Will is no longer a part of this camp. The infirmary has no obligation to ask for his help, and obviously doctor-patient confidentiality,” Jake assured him. Connor frowned instead. He still seemed uncertain.

“You aren’t a doctor,” Connor said softly.

“What happens between you and me isn’t anyone’s business besides our own,” Jake said. He decided not to add that they didn’t really have much of anything going on in their acquaintanceship anyway. The way Connor looked abandoned and lost told Jake telling him so would have hurt him a lot. Jake wasn’t sure if it would have, but he still decided against speaking unnecessary words. “I told your brother the same thing when he came here.”

“Why?”

He wasn’t sure what Connor was asking him to explain. “Go to the infirmary,” he dodged the explanation. Jake didn’t want to try to figure out how to answer that one-word question and Connor looked visibly disappointed that he wasn’t.

“Will you go with me?” Connor asked.

Jake sighed and nodded. “Don’t tell me you need me to hold your hand because you’re afraid of the dark.” Jake turned to walk towards the exit, turning around once to make sure Connor was following him.

The entire way to the infirmary Connor was fidgety. It wasn’t the hyperactive kind that he usually exuded from excitement. Jake watched from the corner of his eye at how Connor looked about with caution that no one witnessed them moving conspicuously in the dark. Jake felt tired and for once wanted to just go to bed and sleep away all the weariness that bombarded him thanks to Connor Stoll and what he brought in toll.

He really was at a lost as to how to handle Connor.


	6. One Night

_“Liar.”_ That was what was in the ice dagger stares shot at him. Jake had walked with Connor to the infirmary and had been ready to hand him to the capable hands of the kids working the night shift, only to find Will Solace sitting at Nico di Angelo’s hospital bedside. He was also in the process of healing Travis Stoll’s skinned knee with a prayer to his father when they noticed him and Connor.

Now they were being lectured by Travis and Will, while Will took a look at the state of Connor’s injury. Jake ignored most of what was being said to him, as Travis was lividly lecturing him in what sounded like ten different languages. Michael was trying to calm him by saying something in French, which just sounded like a bunch of musical notes like when movies or TV shows do a cameo of opera.

“It wasn’t his fault!” Connor yelled, trying to move out of the stool but Will grabbed him with his hand and stopped him. “Ouch.” Connor winced, looked at Jake and then desperately to Travis and Michael still speaking in French. “It was just an accident, okay? I know it looks like I tried to do something but-”

“Connor,” Will spoke softly. He seemed oddly gentle for someone reputed to have given up healing to be a police officer. Will was wrapping Connor’s injury up with new bandages when Connor looked back at him finally. “It isn’t because they think you cut yourself. It’s because they think he’s the reason you got hurt in the woods.”

Jake sat there dumbfounded. How was it _his_ fault? What in Hades were these people like on a normal basis? Were they killing monsters, jumping buildings, and constantly on the verge of attack to be accusing Jake to be the reason Connor got hurt? He had worse problems to think about than this one too.

Connor was unusually quiet and complacent after Will’s brief explanation. Jake didn’t appreciate being the scapegoat in this.

“What’s with the noise?” grumbled a voice. Nico sat up from his bed looking a little paler than normal. His eyes seemed blurred before he focused on everyone around his bed.

“The dead rises,” Will smiled.

“I will hurt you, Solace,” Nico grumbled. Jake made a note to himself: Nico di Angelo is scary after waking up.

“You’re the one with a scratched up chest from almost being mauled,” Will said sternly as he finished Connor’s treatment. Will smiled at Nico as he went back and sat on the chair by Nico’s bedside. “This brings back memories.”

Jake droned out the lovebirds. Then he thought again and turned to Michael and Travis. There was another pair standing right there whispering in French to each other. What in the world was with that? Did they think they were speaking English?

“Uh…” Connor muttered. Jake closed his eyes and inwardly sighed so when he opened his eyes and looked Connor’s way he wasn’t glaring. He didn’t like being accused for something he had no part of. “I’m fine now, and everyone’s here so…” Connor paused, fidgeted like he was trying to say something but didn’t really know what to say.

Jake stood up immediately. “Since you don’t need me I’ll be leaving. I still have duties tomorrow morning.”

“Eh?” Connor stood up. Jake watched him abruptly stop his advance towards him. The stool he’d been sitting on tipped over because he stood so quickly, and everyone looked his way. Connor didn’t seem to notice. “So you’re not leaving tomorrow?”

“I didn’t come here to have a reunion,” Jake couldn’t hide the snarl as he spoke. He was angry, and he wasn’t sure why. It didn’t sting a little be accused but it was something he would have gotten over. “I came here with the deal that if I help out I’ll be allowed to use the Forge.”

“Right, that iron sword.”

For some reason Connor looked disappointed. He visibly showed his expression, something he rarely did unless he planned to do so. Something so uncalculated threw Jake back a little, but he wanted to leave right away. He couldn’t stand being here.

“Get some rest since you’re leaving tomorrow,” Jake said and walked out without saying another word.

* * *

 

Connor couldn’t leave things be, so early in the morning hours before the sun even rose he got up out of bed again. He carefully came down the bunk bed and stood motionless until he was certain Travis was still asleep. Then he put on his shoes and went out with a change of clothes and a towel to the bathhouse.

Before he went there he took a peek at the Forge from afar. The light was on so Connor walked over. He walked inside and went in out of instinct towards Jake’s station. He stopped right away and held his breath at the sight he saw.

Jake was standing over his workbench, and for a moment Connor was worried that he’d been hurt. Jake’s powerful arm was pressed down over the table as he leaned forward, but then Connor’s eyes followed his other arm. He realized Jake’s small grunts and muffled groans weren’t from pain exactly.

Connor watched in shock, transfixed by the very image of Jake seeking climax. His lips were pressed together, his brows furrowed, sweat dripping, and his jeans unzipped. His hips were moving in motion with his hand’s movements. The stimulation seemed to go on forever.

Then Connor saw Jake’s cock and he uttered something in Greek. Jake stopped and he didn’t look up, he was panting before he stuffed his member back into his unzipped jeans. Then he turned and looked at Connor and glared.

“Crap…”

Connor’s legs wouldn’t work even though he knew he needed to run. Jake got to him in ten long strides and grabbed him by the arm. He dropped his change of clothes and towel but he didn’t look. Connor was too transfixed by those hazy eyes clouded with a search for pleasure.

“You’ve got guts to watch me, Stoll.”

For a moment a distant memory struck and threatened to invade Connor’s mind. He fought it down by focusing on that lust-craving look on Jake’s face. Jake Mason, the upstanding guy who didn’t stand out too much and didn’t exactly fade in the background either. Jake Mason, who worked ten times as hard as a natural genius like Leo. Jake Mason, who hugged him and hid his tears in this very building. Jake Mason, who let me talk and talk through the night without end and even acted as if he didn’t see Connor cry when he was crying. Jake Mason, a man he’d rubbed himself on the first day and asked if he was gay.

Gods, what had Connor been thinking a week ago?

“I remember you seem pretty interested in guys, want to help me out?” Jake grabbed Connor by the collar and dragged him back to the workstation. He threw Connor on top of the table and held him down. “You don’t mind do you? Since you’re so interested.” Before Connor could really recollect himself his shorts had been pulled off and his ass being prepped.

First one finger, then another. Connor couldn’t even find the voice to object or tell Jake that it hurt. For some reason he put his hand over his mouth and held back even his gasps for air. It hurt, and it stung and it burned. Connor closed his eyes tight as he felt his hole slowly relax.

He opened his eyes once to check on Jake. The man’s frustrated face looked angry, and desperate. Sweat dripped down onto Connor. He could see the need to release in Jake’s eyes but the man only glared down at him.

“I’m not going to be all gentle and nice, if you’re gonna run you better do so now.” Jake pressed Connor’s knee that he’d been holding up to keep his legs spread down. He pressed his shoulder against Connor’s knee and entered Connor in two thrusts. Connor held back the noise and his cries, gasping through his palm and fingers.

The hard thrusts came, and it hurt more than the fingers that had stretched his hole. Slowly the pain and the burn started to recede, and Connor could feel pleasure. He wanted this, he knew that, and he also knew that Jake hadn’t been very nice about his first time. So a part of him felt grateful because now he was feeling a pleasure he’d never felt before during sex. Another part resented Jake for making it hurt so badly.

Connor climaxed, holding back his voice. He wasn’t sure why he tried to silence himself. He watched as Jake thrusted faster and harder until something hot and wet spread inside Connor. So that’s what it felt like inside a woman when someone went bare. It felt amazing for one split hot second, and then it nasty.

Jake pulled out, his hand returning to where his burning cock had been earlier. They seemed to be entering again, cleaning out the spunk inside Connor. He didn’t fit it. He felt exhausted even though he was hard again.

Then something warm and wet touched his dick. Connor opened his eyes and watched as Jake took his cock into his mouth. Again his hands covered his mouth, he took deep breaths as he watched Jake stimulate his cock with his warm mouth and tongue.

Something floated into his head then. Jake knew what he was doing. He’s done it before. He took Connor cold and distant, made him climax first before he shot his load, then while cleaning Connor up he stimulated Connor again. Jake was practiced. He’s had moments like these before. Hazy, hot, quick moments. Quickies. One night stands.

Gods, Connor was a one-night stand. Worst, he was a hookup.

He felt like crying and throwing up as he came a second time in Jake’s mouth. Connor didn’t remember what happened after, just that he woke up hours later in the infirmary bed across from Nico in the back of the Infirmary. Nico said nothing about how he got there, dressed in his change of clothes and not what he wore to bed. Will seemed to have no idea how he got there when he woke up seconds after Connor did.

Connor knew.

When Jake was done with him he’d been nice enough to clean him up, bathe him, and dress him. Then he’d carried Connor into the infirmary, because it would have been dangerous walking into the Hermes cabin.

For the first time in a long time Connor felt dirty and wrong. He felt angry. He felt frustrated. He hated himself. He wanted to destroy everything and break apart.

Instead, Connor got up, walked himself through the pain without showing any signs of aching, and packed his things. Then without waiting for anyone else he left Camp after making it to a bus stop to call Bellerophon.


	7. the Wolf

Jake pounded his hammer down hard on the piece of metalwork he’d been working on. Having fixed the dent back into perfection he handed the metal back to the teenager watching. With a sigh he turned to the next teen in line waiting for him to help fix their mistakes in their work. The teen nervously pointed out two accidental dents that seemed to have warped the help into a concaved piece that some city artist would call abstract art.

Taking a peek at the clock Jake sighed out. “If you all have enough time to tell me about the Stolls’ shenanigans I suggest you all shut your mouths and learn to fix your own mistakes.” Silence completely filled the forge, and Jake started pounded hard into the heated metalwork again.

It wasn’t like he didn’t know what he did was wrong. He’d forced Connor Stoll. Took the man without consent. Even if he’d given Connor the chance to say no he couldn’t really say he let Connor say no. Just remembering the way Connor held back his voice and silenced himself made Jake’s stomach twist. Then of course this morning with the free time Forge work, all the teenagers were buzzing about the events from the alumni events. They went on about who they liked most, there seemed to be a poll between Percy Jackson and Jason Grace. Of course the Stolls made their way even into the Forge, all their troublemaking shenanigans being recounted to Jake.

He’d thought those two would grow out of their troublemaking business. They had oddly seemed to be on their best behaviors. Now he knew why. They had been making trouble in different ways.

Travis was caught almost around every corner being kissed or groped by Michael Kahale. It swooped the camp of kids into gossip. Then there was also the few times Travis was dragged into the lake by the naiads as a joke and Michael jumped in with a vengeance.

Connor… Ah, Jake really didn’t want to hear the gossips or rumors. It was all about how Connor went around tutoring the Hermes cabin to cause more trouble. Now there were a few inspired to take after them, there seems to be a plan to try and hotwire the camp van for a night drive. He also heard more stories, as Connor was also caught being kissed a few times by girls in the Aphrodite cabin.

“Next,” Jake grumbled holding out his hand. When he didn’t receive another dented piece of work he looked at the line behind him. Then he realized he was done with fixing metalwork problem and everyone was back to their own projects again.

“Excuse me,” a voice singsong up to him. Jake looked down at the little Asian girl with mismatched eyes. It was rare to see someone with brown and blue mismatched eyes, but Jake recalled being told about this unique little girl. The one and only female to bring Will Solace to his knees with a single look.

“Alethea Yang,” he warmed into a smile. She reminded him a little of Randall. Although the boy didn’t smile often, always scowling like a Roman, he seemed to disappear in thought the same way Alethea did. Jake reminded himself he should be careful about mentioning how endearing that expression was to Randall. “What can I do for you, little one?” he asked as he knelt down to be closer to her eye level.

Alethea pouted for a minute, and he could see exactly just why Will lost all resistant and strength against this one. She was an adorable little girl who didn’t realize her own potential to bring down a man with the slightest smile. Jake thought it would be interesting when she got older and it became more apparent. Unlike the Aphrodite children, Alethea’s honest personality might never let her notice how she would affect others in the future. Being raised by Will Solace might also be a cause.

“Connor hugged me,” Alethea admitted.

For a moment Jake was confused. Then he asked, “In what way?”

“Connor doesn’t say goodbye when he leaves,” Alethea said next, completely sidestepping his nervous question. With relief Jake quickly concluded that it was not a sexual sort of “hug” she was talking about. Alethea went on, “He hugged me and he said goodbye. And it’s your fault.”

“My fault he said goodbye?” Jake asked.

“It’s your fault he’s not coming back!” Alethea shouted. Ah…

“How is it my fault?”

“Because you hurt him!” Alethea began to cry. Jake swooped Alethea into his arms, standing up and comforting her the way he did Randall at home.

“Shush little one,” he said in his soft voice, jiggling her so she would feel more at ease. “No need to cry. Tell me all of it, I’m listening.” Jake maneuvered his arms so he could take off his gloves and began to walk outside. He ignored the stares. More feed for the gossips wasn’t going to change the fact that Jake was going to go back to his small little town of Nowhere, Colorado—a place he didn’t belong but was where home was.

Alethea sniffled, clinging to him tightly as Jake rubbed circles into her tiny back. Recalled she was around eight years old, so Jake wondered why she was the size of a six-year-old. Or was it just that Asians were small like the stereotype? Jake tried to smile when she finally lifted her head up and loo    `ked at him. He stopped smiling when she frowned at him.

“Am I scaring you?”

“No.” She pouted, glaring with her huge round eyes, nose scrunched, eyebrows knitted. Jake almost laughed. “You know… you know…” she started to ramble, Jake nodded as she went on, “Connor lies, you know. He lies lots!”

“I know, little one.”

“I’m NOT little,” she grumbled indignantly. Jake schooled his face and nodded just as sternly in acceptance. “Everyone calls me little…”

“You don’t like it?”

Jake carried her to the wooden bench sitting under the shade of the Forge. He made that bench a long time ago, it was one of his first piece of work. It was to replace the one he’d broken. As Jake put Alethea in the middle of the bench and sat down by the armrest he took note of how unusually quiet Camp was. Ignoring his baser instinct he traced his fingers over the carving he left on the arm rest as a symbol that he made it. His signature…

Alethea climbed onto his leg. “But you know, Connor never calls me little except when he wants me to be angry.”

A little confused and yet knowing exactly why Connor would do it he asked her, “Why?”

“Cuz he thinks it’s funny,” Alethea said. She beamed a smile up at him. It was very obvious that although Alethea openly showed her contempt of the Stolls, she also valued them very much because they accepted her. “Travis never calls me little,” she smiled, radiating a warmth of emotions just from the way she sat herself on his lap. Alethea kicked her legs out as if it was the most natural thing to do, playing with her feet by stretching them in and out and in all directions.

“You like Travis more.” Jake found that hilarious. Connor did seem like he needed a little used to getting to.

“No,” she pouted. “It’s just that Travis is nicer.” She suddenly seemed lost in thought, staring off into the distant.

“So Connor’s mean?”

“No,” Alethea denied, “A little… but Travis is too. They always bully me,” then suddenly remembering she added, “Except when Michael’s around! Michael’s SUPER COOL.” That was something he’d yet to hear about Will. What was Will if Michael was “super cool”?

“So Travis…” Jake reminded her of the topic as she listed off about how awesome Michael Kahale was. Someone named Ernest who was special to Michael also seemed to be very prominent.

“Travis is nice. He gets sad sometimes but Michael always cheers him up faster than I can. Travis likes to laugh, and sometimes he lies.”

“What do you mean he lies?” Jake prompted. Alethea was a talker, which was unexpected considering she seems so distant from everyone. She, like most campers, seemed to have a sense of belonging at Camp Half-Blood but much like Nico di Angelo she also seemed to feel like she didn’t belong. Jake had thought she was quiet and shy, and perhaps that was true but it was also becoming apparent that Alethea seemed to know how to enjoy herself.

“Travis and Connor always lies,” she stated. That sat between them in silence for a moment as Alethea let the fact settle. Then she sighed and went on to say, “When they feel sad they smile. When they’re angry they laugh. When they’re scared they get mad or they try to be nice.”

“I see.”

Alethea looked up into his eyes then. She grabbed onto his shirt and tugged on it to make sure she had his attention. “I heard Will and them talking before they went home.” _Home_ rang in his ear for a moment. “They said Connor left without saying bye like always, but this morning when I was in bed he came to hug me and said goodbye.” She frowned and it was obvious she was going to start crying again.

“And?”

“I couldn’t tell if he was lying or not, but he was smiling,” Alethea frowned. The concern in her eyes told Jake just how deeply she cared for Connor. None of those guys probably realized how important they were in her life. Not that they were the first to accept and love her the way she was—something some demigods actually went through. The fact was that Alethea loved them so deeply because she knew that love was true, that it wasn’t pity or politeness that they were there for her. She was a truly well blessed child.

The words Alethea just spoke then sank into his mind. “He was smiling?”

“He was sad,” Alethea said. She frowned. “I can’t tell how someone feels, I can only tell if they’re lying but I know Connor and Travis…”

“…Smile when they’re sad…” Now that Jake thought about it Connor was smiling a lot in the week. He was happy, running around, and although Jake mostly minded his own business having heard some of the stories about what he’d been up to in the week seemed so inconsistent to what Jake knew. Because Connor cried at night in the Forge, and Jake pretended like he didn’t see the tears sometimes but he’d known Connor wanted to mourn Michael Yew with him. After many years Connor was still smiling even when he was sad, still mourning a guy who never came home.

“Connor never says goodbye. And it’s your fault!” Alethea shouted at him.

“What’s my fault, little one?” Jake asked quietly.

He waited for the indignant insistent that she was not little. When it didn’t come Jake saw the sternness in her eyes. This situation was not a joke to her. She had a big heart in a little body. It was uncanny how she reminded him of Randall, and how much like Randall she managed to make him feel like a person.

“Michael said Connor left without saying anything to them because of you. He said Connor might never come back because you remind him of sad times.” Alethea burst into tears and wails. She started hitting him with her tiny fists.

Jake let her hit him, expecting her to go into sobs once she ran out of energy. Instead he felt a cold blade held against his neck. Opening his eyes he saw a dark skinned boy in a purple cloak glaring at him as he held an imperial short sword up at Jake. That dark threatening look was very much like Randall’s too.

“Let her go,” came the command. Despite his smaller size and how obvious Jake would tower over him the boy didn’t move an inch as Jake began to stand up. He let down Alethea who went from crying to quiet sobs as she looked between Jake and his threat. The boy stepped in front of her, his sword held in perfect position to defend if Jake attacked.

“Looks like you’ve got yourself a champion, Alethea,” Jake smiled at her. He ran his hand through his sweat covered hair and felt the grease in it.

“Stop, Ernest,” Alethea stepped up behind the boy and put her hand on the boy’s sword arm. Then Jake noticed the Roman tattoo and the scars. Jake felt a fury built up inside him but held himself back. It was very obvious that at a much younger age that he already was, that Ernest had to go through many ordeals and learned to persevere. Jake felt a pinch of regret no one was around to help the boy before when those scars had been wounds.

“He made you cry,” Ernest growled.

“I was NOT crying!” Alethea stomped her foot. Jake tried not to smile but he knew he was. Alethea Yang was definitely stubborn. Much like Apollo was known to be, she did cry or pout or lament quite a bit. Neither would admit to it because they didn’t quite think of it as such a weakness and the connotation that they were was a bruise to their pride and honor.

“You were!”

“I was NOT!”

Soon enough it became a shouting match between the two. “I hate you!” Alethea shouted. It went dead silent instantly. Ernest looked angrier than when he met Jake. He tightened his hand around his sword, glaring at Alethea. Alethea looked worse than when this started, on the verge of huge tears but holding back her cries.

The only thoughts that formed in Jake’s head was that those two were definitely related to Will Solace’s group of friends, and that Randall would never have gotten into such a passionate argument. It was a surprise that the Roman boy had walked into the argument himself. Jake watched as Alethea’s face expressions changed from wanting to cry, to holding back, to nearly breaking down. It seemed she really regretted what she said and was afraid the boy Ernest would hate her as he was still deadly glaring at her. Alethea’s pride wouldn’t allow her to apologize for what she said though.

Fishing a handkerchief out of his pocket—he was lucky it hadn’t gotten dirty yet—he knelt down and began to wipe Alethea’s tears and snot off her face. “Come on little one,” Jake spoke in a quiet gentle voice he was used to utilizing with Randall when he was a baby. Alethea turned to him immediately and ran into his embrace, clutching him tightly. “Shush.” Jake rubbed circles into her back as she hiccupped and tried to hold back from crying even more. Jake looked at Ernest who was staring wide-eyed at the sudden change of Alethea’s stubborn demeanor.

With a wink Jake put his index finger to his lip, signaling Ernest to watch quietly. Jake stood up, letting Alethea step back and stare up in all at his height. He held her hand between his fingers and grinned down at her. She stared up at him much the same way Randall does, with clear eyes seeing something heroic there that no one else saw. When he turned to the boy Ernest it was much the same look.

“I’ve got something for you, a peace offering,” Jake said. He led the two, each one holding his hands, into the Forge. The two were quiet and calm, an obvious tension between them. They went with him in silence, even when everyone in the Forge stopped their work to stare at the little children holding Jake’s hands as he walked them to his workstation neither made a sound.

Jake picked each up and seated them on his large stool. He managed to seat them, but both stubbornly turned their back to the other on the stool. Jake stood facing them back after fishing out one of his random projects from the other day. He’d made it without thinking much of it, his fingers just moving along while he was thinking of other things because he couldn’t concentrate.

“Look, I made three,” Jake said holding it out between them. The two both turned towards him to look at the three things he held in his hands.

“Pretty…” Alethea sighed as she leaned forward.

“Take it,” Jake urged her. Alethea picked up one of the silver bracelets, looking at it with awe. It was more like a wristband than a bracelet, being flat and nearly covering the wrist, but was made of stainless steel. “It’s a little big but you can wear it in the future.” Alethea nodded and hugged the bracelet to her heart with a gentle smile on her face. With her eyes closed it seemed almost as if she was praying to it.

“Here, pick,” Jake held out the last two bracelets to Ernest. The boy frowned, looked up at him, and back down at the items. “If you don’t like it you don’t have to take it, but I think it’ll be nice if you two have proof of your friendship.” Jake grinned when Ernest glared at him and snatched one of the bracelets from Jake’s hand. He put the leftover one on his workstation desk.

Jake studied the two bracelets the two held in their hands. Alethea’s was the simple bracelet as it was flat and looked like a wristband. Ernest’s was the one that looked like braided metal. The one Jake had left over was a mix of the two. The middle part of it was flat, but the ends were designed to look braided.

“Hey, No. 23 over there!” Jake shouted at his half-brother across the aisle working away with his wood designs. “Let me borrow your engraver pen,” he called out, holding his hand out. To one of the preteens about to walk past he snapped his fingers and pointed to No. 23 digging into his workstation’s drawer.

The preteen walked over and waited patiently with their board of wood they’d been carrying back to the shared worktable of the younger Hephaestus kids. After a minute the other teen finally straightened up from his desk and asked whether Jake wanted the battery powered one or the electric one.

“Whichever one works better. Hurry up, I’ve got patrons here,” Jake grumbled at him. No. 23 rolled his eyes at Jake and handed their younger sibling the electric engraver pen to carry over to Jake with the different tips in their case.

“Thank you,” Jake smiled at the preteen. “I’ll come help you guys in a bit,” he promised and watched his younger sibling beamed and rush off. Jake shook his head. None of them especially felt concerned about him but they knew where the best opportunity was when it came to gaining the most out of any experience. If Leo had showed up like planned Jake would probably have spent most of his time back at camp quietly working on his project throughout the days.

“Want me to put a design on the bracelet?” Jake turned and asked the two waiting children on his stool. He managed to signal another passing half-sibling to pull up another stool for him to sit on while he listened to Alethea debate to herself about the design. Ernest sat quietly pondering the idea.

“Angelos,” Alethea held out hers to Jake just as Ernest held his out and said, “Angelus.” He let out a short laugh. These two were so liked minded it was amazing.

“How about something else?”

“M,” Ernest then suggested.

“W,” Alethea decided next.

Jake almost laughed again but managed to stop himself. It was obvious why the two picked those letters.

“You know this is supposed to be one about your friendship to each other right?” Jake pointed out. The two frowned in disappointment.

Alethea looked up as if an epiphany came to her. “A wolf!”

Jake didn’t understand where that was coming from. Ernest looked just as confused. He asked how she knew what he was going to say next, which meant he had been even more taken aback because he was thinking of the same thing.

“A wolf!” Alethea said again. “You can do that right?”

A little nervous Jake asked, “Why a wolf?”

“Because I dreamt a wolf would help me go home one day,” Alethea answered him honestly. She seemed to be drifting in thought again. Jake looked around but everyone was minding their own business and were too busy to eavesdrop. “Do you know what you want it to look like?”

“I do!” Ernest raised his hand up. Alethea and he shared a look then the two turned their backs to him on the stool and began to discuss in whispers. They came to some sort of conclusion and turned back to him, but very serious. Then they promptly tried to explain the design they wanted.

The more they tried to explain the more confused Jake became. A wolf that ate itself? A circular wolf? One with lines? Jake pulled out the sketchbook from one of the drawers of his workbench and flipped through and found the image he felt they were describing. The one he hoped they weren’t describing. He showed them the picture.

“That’s it!” they both shouted happily. “Can you?” they looked at him expectantly.

With a heavy sigh Jake nodded, deciding he would never tell them the truth of the tribal-stylistically drawn wolf coiled up inside a circle represent the moon. The simple but complicated design was actually Jake’s signature. It was what he’d etched into the bench outside the Forge, what he had etched on all his commissioned work pieces, and it was the tattoo he had on his chest just over his heart. Jake decided the reason either one of them could have known the image was simply because they were children of Apollo and were more prone to get images of the future as distorted as it was.

He put the design on Alethea’s simple bracelet, finding it easier to do on hers as it was smooth and simple. It was a bit more difficult as he had to work the emblem inside Ernest’s bracelet which was flat and not ridged with the braided twist. When he finished the two looked at his spare bracelet he left on the top of his workbench.

“What are you going to do with that one?” Alethea asked.

Jake picked up the third bracelet. “Don’t know,” he answered. “Maybe give it to another kid,” he smiled. Randall might actually like it. Except for clothes and shoes Randall didn’t seem interested in anything that Jake gave him. Randall would probably accept the gift but Jake would never see it again.

“I bet they would like it,” Alethea beamed. She sounded very confident. “Put the wolf on it!”

Jake nodded as he started and let them watch him etch it in. He’d already decided to put it on whether they had wanted to or not. Jake had made his signature based on Randall. He would probably have to tell Randall that he wasn’t the only kid running around with that secret symbol anymore though.

Not like his supposed son would really care anyways.


	8. Too Much

After helping the two kids mend their friendship with a proof of their undying bond, Jake helped out the children training in the Forge. Around 3 o’clock he left the Forge, hanging up his blacksmith’s apron for the day. He grabbed his towel and clothes so he could shower and wash all the grim off.

Jake was passing Rachel Elizabeth Dare speaking with Percy Jackson and Jason Grace when he overheard their conversation. He stopped in his tracks, making it obvious he heard them. They grew silent as he approached.

“There was another prophecy?” Jake asked, worried.

“Nothing big,” Rachel laughed as she waved it off. “It’s just that I gave Will a prophecy and it hasn’t been declared finished yet. They’re all worried.”

“They?”

“Percy and Jake thinks Nico has something to do with it,” Rachel giggled, her eyes brightening up in joviality.

Jake had lived minimizing as much information as possible about Camp, so he never heard of this prophecy. He stood there a bit confused before asking Percy to explain it.

“Last year in January she gave a prophecy,” Percy explained. They recounted the story told them and how they came to know about the prophecy.

Rachel’s eyes glowed suddenly and the chilly voice of the oracle resonated as she spoke the words:

 

_A child of truth in pools of lies,_

_The angel’s promise to hold the ties._

_The strength of will alone to heal,_

_What lies broke a single choice will seal._

 

“She did it again,” Jason groaned as Rachel came to herself. Jake stood motionless. Did that just happen? He wanted to blink the event away. It really just happened.

“What just happened?” Rachel asked.

“You gave Jake the prophecy,” Percy sighed. “What is with that Rach?” She shoved her shoulder against Percy with a glare.

“Did she just…” Jake couldn’t find the words.

“Welcome to the prophecy that never ends!” Percy smiled at him. He was obviously running circles around trying to figure out the prophecy. More like they were just worried the prophecy took so long to fulfill. No one wanted another Great Prophecy or anything like that at all.

“Hey, Michael and Travis finished the prophecy didn’t they?” Rachel snapped angrily, putting her fists on her hips. Jake just stood there as the three bickered back and forth.

“So from what I know,” Jason said in a calmer voice. He sounded tired and worn from this situation however. Jake couldn’t blame the guy, he was only recently part of this prophecy and he already felt like giving up. “The child of truth might be Ernest Malek El-Amin, since he’s a child of Apollo like Alethea.” His face scrunched up because he looked confused. “Pool of lies… I guess that could be about the incident when he first came into Camp Jupiter and New Rome. He was almost used as a tool to get back at Michael by Octavian’s family.”

“Funny that as a god of truth Apollo’s descendants are mostly corrupted,” Percy grumbled. Jake had injuries during the battle back when he was still with Camp Half-Blood. He wasn’t as involved into the whole situation as many of the others. During his remaining days he spent more time worrying over other things like his son he never knew existed.

“Anyways,” Jason seethed, not taking Percy’s bait. “The line about the angel holding the ties could be about Michael, he’s named after the archangel from the Bible.” Jason looked up at Jake as if he expected Jake to agree with him. Jake didn’t know, he was only recently introduced to this problematic prophecy and was just told that he was now part of it. “If it is Michael I guess the promise to hold the ties would be his marriage vows with Travis. They just got their official marriage papers in through the U.S. government.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” Percy commented, busy sharing half of his Slim Jim with Rachel.

“Then there’s ‘the strength of will alone to heal’…” Jason said more to himself than to the others. He was deep in thought when Percy handed him the rest of his half of the Slim Jim. Jason took it without really noticing it and started to eat it. “I don’t know enough of their story but it should have been fulfilled. It might be talking about Michael, he went through a lot having been sponsored by the Apollo house and he stayed loyal despite a lot of things until he was independent.” Jason looked confused when he noticed the Slim Jim in his hand. He shrugged and continued to eat it.

“Then what about ‘what lies broke a single choice will seal’?” Percy asked. “Might be about Travis, because it’s very obvious Michael rarely lies if at all and he’s super loyal as we earlier established.” Percy had his legs stretched out with his ankles crossed. “Rachel what do you think?”

“I can’t say,” Rachel shrugged, more focused on her Slim Jim.

“Greetings.”

A woman walked up from behind Jake. Reyna, she used to be the praetor for Camp Jupiter. Now she was one of the up and coming big wigs of New Rome, her partner in crime being Frank Zhang. The two made quite the team, considering that Frank could pick up any slack Reyna couldn’t or any work she left him. In the same light Reyna seemed to understand Frank’s way of thinking as they were both children of war gods. At least that was what Jake thought the few times he’d met them and gone to New Rome.

“Reyna,” Percy smiled up at the woman. Jake ignored the usual greetings and back and forth that followed. He wondered exactly why or how he got strung into this prophecy. Of course he knew it was something the Fates, and the gods or whoever, decided should happen. It didn’t mean Jake appreciated being a part of it.

“Oh, that prophecy…” Reyna said as she thought on it. “Well if we’re talking about Michael and Travis it should be easy. Ernest is the child of truth, because he’s the son of Apollo. The pool of lies might be his family situation. His half-brother Malek El-Amin raised him. Ernest knows who his real father is, but he stills calls Malek his dad. His family life is a bit difficult, and then you add in the Apollo house who really just do not like Michael because they think he killed Octavian. The angel is Michael, but I’m not sure about the promise. Michael rarely makes promises, but before he left New Rome Frank and I made him promise to keep in touch. Ernest also shared that Michael made a promise that he would always be there. Of course we can’t ignore his sacred vow of marriage and support to Travis. Then the strength of will to heal can only be about Michael’s deep hate for some of the people in the Apollo house he has had to serve. I think Travis helped him through that.”

“Wow, you sure are confident about your thoughts,” Percy commented to Reyna. “I didn’t think you were interested.”

Reyna’s eyes flared for a moment as she focused her eyes on Percy. With a deadly lethal smile that had Percy backing up where he sat she replied, “He’s my precious subordinate. Of course I’ll silently keep watch over him.” Jake really did not want to know what the extent of those words meant. In fact, why was he still here?

“The last line, I think can refer to Michael or Travis. Remember that it is a lie about Octavian’s death. Only a few of us know about it. Michael is the one who has felt the brunt of it the most, because Apollo’s family especially doesn’t believe he would sacrifice himself. Recall the first few months after the battle, there were a lot of rumors contesting the official story. A lot of those rumors said that as revenge Michael had a hand in Octavian’s death. A part of Michael might have been broken for a long time now because of what he had to endure through the years sponsored by the Apollo family.”

Reyna seemed quite serious as she said it. Making it sound a lot like a conspiracy. And there was a different truth to Octavian’s death? Obvious no one in the Greek side really believed that scrawny little kid would sacrifice himself for the glory of the Romans, but Jake had never really question the story either. An alternative just never really came up.

“And Travis?”

Reyna shrugged. “It might be about Travis’ own problems. Michael would not divulge that personal information, and it is something I will respect.”

“Wait, hold up!” Jason shouted then. Everyone turned to him. “You’re telling me that Michael specifically talked to you about the completion of the prophecy?” Jason asked in clarification.

“Well yeah,” Reyna answered. Her eyes glanced down at Rachel and flashed her a quick smile before turning back to Jason. Jake watched Rachel blush as Percy then rounded on the oracle. “A few weeks ago. Connor had brought up the idea that because all three of them was present when Will received the prophecy that it was in fact a prophecy meant for them individually.”

“We established that,” Jake found himself grumbling.

“Michael spoke to me about it to uphold his promise, and also because he said something about owing another ‘angel’ a favor for his help.” Reyna seemed to smile, as if hiding something she knew. For example, knowing these two angels.

Jake bid his leave before he could hear anymore. He took his shower, but his mind was far off in that shaded grass where Jason and Percy was. It was still back there when Rachel had went oracle on him and given him the prophecy too. It was still back there where Reyna had mentioned that Connor had brought up that the prophecy was given to each of them. Back where Jason and Percy were wracking their brains trying to figure out an unfulfilled prophecy.

Something else kept bringing him back to the prophecy. The second war against Kronos, taking him back to that moment he decided he would walk away from it all. The prophecy and that moment was why Connor cried. Nico _di Angelo_ , and Michael Kahale named after an angel. Connor lost Michael Yew a long time ago. He was never going to complete the prophecy given to him. That’s why Connor was so carefree and smiling. It was to hide the fact that Michael Yew— _his_ angel was gone.

“Because he smiles when he’s sad…” Jake whispered, standing under the spray of the hot shower. That overwhelming feeling of being unable to solve something he should be able to frustrated Jake. He knew the solution but he couldn’t get there.

 

“Jake Mason.”

Nico di Angelo’s cool voice drifted into Jake’s ear. He reacted, dropping his little hammer on his workbench and quickly stuffing his small piece of work into the pocket of his apron. He turned his head and watched as Nico di Angelo walked to a stool a couple feet away and sat down.

It was strange to look at Nico and see such confidence. Nico usually stood out once he’s been taken noticed of, because he was always wearing black death-y stuff like a gothic or emo kid. Not to say that Nico wasn’t confident, he usually sent a chill of fear right down Jake’s very spine. The difference was how was so confident in a self-awareness kind of way. Nico sat on the stool, legs stretched out and ankles crossed. His hands were pressed down at his side on the stool, leaning back on them. His shaggy black hair seemed a bit more like ash black these days and less of a dark dreary kind. The look in his dark eyes lit with a similar passion he often saw in others, such as Percy when he was fighting or in the water. Jason when he’s in the air and with Piper. Leo Valdez had those eyes often whenever he so much as put his hands on a tool.

“I’ve got a commission for you,” Nico said when Jake brought his eyes up Nico’s slim body. Jake blinked once and then twice. A commission? “Michael told me about the collapsible weapon he had you made for him.”

“Ah, that,” Jake tried to sound noncommittal in tone. The work he did for Michael Kahale in New Rome some years ago had been his better work. He’d been in college and had taken a break to visit New Rome, investigating some imperial gold metal and considering moving to the Roman home. While there Michael Kahale had also been in the process of leaving, they met up at a bar and got to talking. For a fee and free material Jake made some collapsible spears. Sometime after that he’d been asked to make another collapsible sphere as a gift for a child.

“It seems effective, it once took down Connor.”

“What?”

“Michael used it against Connor,” Nico said again, hands in his pockets. Those black jeans and the soft fitting V-neck shirt encased Nico’s body and form perfectly. It also seemed to double his attractiveness and that easy confidence. He also seemed to be rather relaxed in his pose which is probably what boosted his confidence and made Jake more acutely aware of his presence. “Connor went down with one hit.”

“I see.” Jake wasn’t really interested. His fingers were itching to go back to work on the little piece of work he’d been focused on.

“Well, it seems you can concentrate on anything but what you want to work on,” Nico said. Jake glared at him. “It might have something to do with where your passion is at the moment.” Jake raised an eyebrow in question. “I’m only saying.”

“Nico di Angelo…” Jake smirked. The way Nico paused and almost missed a step as he was getting up told him all he needed to know. Despite his outward appearance Nico was rather uncomfortable. “Are you trying to play cupid?” Nico cursed under his breath but Jake held back his laughter.

A chill ran down Jake’s spine and unshakable fear seized him. Nico was suddenly in front of Jake, grabbing him by the collar of his dirty t-shirt and pulling him forward. “Do NOT compare me with Cupid,” he growled angrily. Jake could see those dark coal-like eyes lighting up in a blaze of fury. He used to just avoid the guy because he looked like those stereotypical emo kids, but now Jake knew why he really did. Nico di Angelo had the inert ability to scare people.

“Alright,” Jake swallowed his pain and managed to say in a cool voice. Nico seemed to recollect himself in a blink and moved away from Jake as quickly as he’d appeared in front of him. “Aphrodite,” Jake smirked.

“Mason,” Nico growled.

“Hey, you’re the one who is trying to hookup his friend.” Jake held up his hand to show he didn’t mean any harm by it. Nico shot him a dirty look before walking back to his stool and sitting down. There was silence as Nico sat there seemingly thinking about his next words.

“I didn’t come here to hook you two up,” Nico mumbled.

“What else could there be?”

Nico glared at him but with less rage and fury. It seemed like just general annoyance, something Jake was used to seeing. “I told you I had a commission for you.”

“And that would be…”

Nico cleared his throat, his face turning pink. Nico had always been pretty pale, but seeing him turn pink made it even more noticeable. It looked almost like Nico was running a fever.

“The commission,” Jake reminded Nico.

“A ring,” Nico cleared his throat just before saying it. For a moment Jake felt his jaw go slack but quickly tightened it again. Nico di Angelo just asked him to make a ring?

“For Percy and Annabeth.”

Jake stood up, taking off his blacksmith’s apron. Nico stood up after him, knowing Jake was going to leave and reacting to it. Jake veered away and headed for the exit.

“Jake Mason,” Nico shouted after him. Jake kept walking towards his cabin.

“Jake!”

Jake turned around finally, losing his cool. Just as Nico stopped mere inches from face-planting into Jake’s chest, he glared at the man some inches shorter than him.

“Leo Valdez is Percy’s friend,” Jake pointed out.

“So are you. You’ve known him longer.”

Jake shook his head. As much as he would have the honor to make Percy and Annabeth’s wedding rings he couldn’t say yes. Jake knew who it was that had the right, should be granted that right to making their marriage bands. That person was not Jake.

“Nico, despite what you make think of me I am not desperate enough to do this.”

“I don’t…” Nico stumbled with his words. “Look I didn’t mean to…”

Jake interrupted him. “It is with a strong belief that the honor goes to Leo Valdez. To ask me to go behind his back and do such a thing is asking me to go against myself.” Jake turned to walk away, walking right into the cabin and towards his bed.

It was too much to ask Jake to just take on a prophecy as well as the rings. Being thrown into things that barely had half to do with him was like asking Jake to walk off a cliff.


	9. Mason

Jake wasn’t sure what to do a couple months later when his mother dropped by at his grandfather’s shop to hand Jake a wedding invitation. Percy and Annabeth were getting married. Jake had already declined the offer so he knew he wasn’t receiving the invitation out of respect as the maker of the wedding ring. He was perplexed . He stared mostly at the Plus 1 check box. 

“Too embarrassed to go?” his grandfather’s deep voice asked. Jake stood up and like a child hid the invitation behind his back.

“I wasn’t…” Jake tried to come up with some excuse, some kind of lie. He stopped mid-sentence giving up. He’d never been good at lying and he almost never lied. His grandfather knew that. Jake pulled the invitation card from its hiding spot behind him and threw it on his desk in the back of the small mechanics shop.

“Are you too embarrassed to go?” his grandfather asked him again.

Jake shook his head. “I don’t know why I was invited.”

“Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase,” his grandfather said as he walked up to his own desk just beside Jake’s. He was rubbing grease off his fingers with a clean rag about ready to wash up and go for lunch. “You used to come home and tell your mother stories about that camp you go to in the summer.”

Jake hung his head. He didn’t really want to think about his youth or his time before Randall. Instead of replying Jake busied himself by trying to rub the grease off his fingers too.

“Your mother wanted us to come over for dinner,” his grandfather said.

“That’s not necessary sir,” Jake responded. He knew his grandparents didn’t really want to be any more connec ted to him or Randall. Jake finally looked up and saw the glare his grandfather  was shooting at him. He immediately remedied his words, “I mean you don’t have to inconvenience yourselves.” The glare deepened.

“Before I address a problem that seems to have been hanging between us for some time,” his grandfather said in that tone Jake recalled in childhood. It was the first tone of voice to have ever told him the truth and shine light on the prejudice and judgment on his mother and him the bastard child.  “I will not let you deny me my great grandson.”

“Sir I-”

“-Grandfather.”

“What?”

“Grandfather. I am your grandfather, Jake Mason,” his grandfather said sternly. Jake felt himself bristle. “For once in your life you should accept that fact even if you don’t like it.” Jake felt a ping he was used to. His intentions were usually misinterpreted and he was blunt . It was usually very apparent that Jake was  not the best at  interpersonal communication \--or relationships .

“We’ve talked about this,” Jake sighed heavily, choosing to ignore his grandfather’s words. “Randall isn’t really…”

H is grandfather interrupted ,  “When his mother left him here to pursue God knows what, you raised him. You have fed him, and held him in your arms as he cried through the night teething. He is yours.” His grandfather threw the dirty rag onto the top of his desk and walked away from Jake towards the car he was working on. “Your grandmother and I will see you at dinner.” He walked out of the garage for the diner across the street.

Jake sighed. His grandmother was raised a city girl. Of course Jake knew that definition was widely different now from when she was a teenager, but it still meant she didn’t like small towns. It also mean t that when she had been moved to a small town and married a man here that she would be the most judgmental of all. His grandmother  still  didn’t like that she  had married someone with little wealth and social standing  like Jake's  grandfather, or that a mechanic had been the best his grandfather could  become . Jake also knew that his grandmother didn’t like him, because his mother—her daughter—had a child out of wedlock and was an embarrassment. His mother and he reflected badly on his grandmother’s meager reputation with the small town folks, and his grandmother had quite a bit of pride because she’d been born in some large family of great social standing. Not that anyone really cared here what social standing a city girl had.

Jake wasn’t all too glad about seeing his grandmother who sneered every time she laid eyes on him. He also didn’t like that Randall felt hated and nonexistent. The first time Jake had brought Randall to visit his grandparents two years ago his  grandmother didn’t even acknowledge that he’d been there and walked away. His grandfather had simply stared at the five-year-old Randall at the time and introduced himself. The experience had confused Randall but as Randall magically came to love his great grandfather the boy also learned to stay away from his great grandmother.

That night Jake braced himself at his grandparent’s house in town. His mother, he and Randall lived in the lodge a few miles outside of town with  Jake's  great grandparents.  Dinner plans had changed from being in the lodge cabin to his grandparents' house in town.  His mother had brought Randall ahead but Jake had stayed to cover someone’s shift and close the shop. When he’d finally cleaned up and gotten back into town it’d been just about dinner time.

As he got out of the car and onto the drive he warily glanced around. He had a bad feeling about this. Trouble was coming. He just knew it.

Jake knocked on the door and waited. When the door opened his mother smiled at him. He smiled back in relie f  and kissed her on the cheek before stepping in.

“Evening,” Jake greeted his grandmother. She didn’t respond except by pushing in her chair a little closer to the dining table. “Sorry I’m late,” he said quietly as he sat down at the side chair further from her side of the head of the table. He tensed the moment his grandfather seated himself next to Jake at the head of the table he was closest to.

“Any problems closing up?” his grandfather asked.

“No…” Jake paused and added, “Grandfather.” His grandfather gave him a nod in response. Jake looked down at his plate already feeling awkward.

“Where is that child?” his mother sighed out as she sat down by her mother’s side and diagonal from Jake. He knew the empty seat next to his grandfather and mother would  be  where Randall sat. The boy didn’t like Mary Mason, his great grandmother. Jake didn’t like his grandmother either. Mary Mason could insult someone and tell them they were unworthy of her with a single look. Jake was amazed his grandfather married and stayed faithful to such a woman for so many years.

“I will go find him,” Jake said as he began to stand up. He would welcome any way to get out of there quick.

“Sit down,” his grandfather ordered. Jake immediately sat down again. “Randy get in here,” his grandfather sighed. Jake turned his head and watched as Randall ran out from the hallway into the dining room and jumped into his seat. He looked excited, that was a good sign. His grandfather nodded in approval as he did whenever he found something agreeable. Jake usually didn’t elicit those habitual nods.

Dinner was unbearably quiet. Jake nearly leapt out of his chair when his cell phone rang. He excused himself and quickly stepped out into the hall to answer the phone.

“I’ve got a commission for you,” came the voice over the line. Jake recognized the voice but he couldn’t quite place it. He let the silence hang in the air for a bit. “This is Reyna.”

“Reyna, hello,” Jake responded slowly. He let the silence hang again until she said something. He wasn’t sure what to proceed with.

“I heard you made matching bracelets for Alethea Yang and Ernest El-Amin. I would like to request something similar,” Reyna explained. Before Jake even replied she went on with the details. “Twin bracelets—but they are a little more like bracers too. Something applicable in battle, I mean.”

“A gift?”

“For myself and another, yes.”

Jake nodded even know he knew she couldn’t see. He promised to make the items but would talk over the details another day. He hung up and returned to his seat at the dining table. Everyone stared at him as he settled back in.

“Someone we should know about?” his mother asked, expectant.

Jake smiled and shook his head. “An acquaintance from  California. She saw one of the previous works I made.” 

“Was she calling to say it was cool?” Randall asked. He beamed up at Jake and Jake smiled back.

“It is rude to call someone during dinner,” Jake’s grandmother mumbled. She said it disdainfully to herself but he knew it was directed at him. Samantha glanced worriedly at Jake knowing very well Jake wasn’t going to respond to the insult.

“What did he want?” Jake’s grandfather asked detached. He focused on his plate and eating. Jake’s mother on the other hand seemed even more worried.

“ She, ” Jake said with emphasis, “asked if I could make her a couple bracelets.”

“For free?”

Jake fought the urge to roll his eyes at his grandmother’s comment, instead  he imagined  that Connor Stoll did it even more dramatically for him. Jake closed his eyes and erased Connor from his mind. He has been needing to take moments like this in all hours of the day to stop Connor Stoll from appearing in his mind. The guilt of what he did to Connor, how he treated Connor, was too strong for him to forget. Even more so now because he knew how strongly Connor felt for Michael Yew.

“I’m sure she offered to pay,” Samantha smiled at Jake. His mother sold her little trinkets and creations online. Hers, much like his, were commission work but on a more artistic level. Jake  was more with the “applicable weaponry” and things like shields and such. 

“I told her we would talk later on the details,” Jake said quietly and quickly. He kept his eyes on his plate as he ate. He tried to make sure his mouth was always stuffed with food or chewing so he wouldn’t have time to answer anymore questions. It worked pretty well until his mother brought out her pie for dessert and he was no longer chewing.

While he tried to hide behind drinking his glass of water his grandfather asked, “And the invitation?”

Jake managed not to choke on his water. He didn’t know what to say and felt a little relie ved  when Randall asked Jake’s grandfather about the invitation.

“What did Jake get?” Randall asked curiously.

Jake watched the way his grandfather’s greying eyebrows furrowed. No one liked that Randall went from saying “daddy” to calling Jake by name. Jake wasn’t exactly sure why it happened but he also didn’t quite mind it either. Randall could call Jake an apple for all he cared and Jake would still risk life and limb for the boy.

“An invitation to a wedding,” Grandfather replied slowly to Randall.

“Oh…” Randall thought quietly. He was quiet for a few minutes before he looked up and asked again, “I can’t go?”

Jake cleared his throat to get their attention. “I won’t be going.” 

Randall frowned. “But it’s a wedding.”

“I won’t go.”

“Isn’t it Percy and Annabeth’s wedding? You used to talk about them, they are your friends,” Samantha said as he put down a slice of pumpkin pie down in front of Jake. She gave him that soft look that took down Jake’s defenses in less than half a second. “You should go and congratulate them.”

“It’ll be a whole weekend at Camp,” Jake pointed out. His mother rolled her eyes in that way where she told him she didn’t understand his logic. “ I just…” Jake couldn’t find an excuse not to go. He just didn’t want to be there or  chance seeing Solace or the  Stolls . He wanted to get away from that prophecy and his own guilt as far as possible. If that made him a coward then that’s that.

"Go," Grandfather said. "I'll give you that weekend off. I'm sure the acquaintance from California would be there too. You can bring her commission to her." That was all was needed to tell Jake his father had been able to catch on to more than Jake had said. It had always surprised Jake how his grandfather could understand things he didn't say or avoided saying. That uncanny ability to know what Jake wasn't saying scared Jake, as if his grandfather knew the secret that Jake and Randall's mother has kept hidden ever since she gave the day-old nameless baby to Jake and disappear.

"Grandfather I would rather..." Jake tried to find an excuse but gave up. He sighed instead, knowing in his head that he should just let it go and do as he was told. He nodded, closing his eyes and trying to ease the headache threatening to erupt in his mind. Jake wanted to avoid trouble as much as possible. He needed to. "I understand," he said finally.

"Take Randy  with you."

"What?"

"Take Randy with you," his grandfather said again. "Understood?"

"Yes sir," Jake responded through clenched teeth. "Excuse me." He stood up and cleared. "I'm finished." Jake curtly left the dining room and disappeared to the backyard.

Later that night Jake carried a sleeping Randall in his arms from his car into the cabin in the woods at the outskirts of town. Jake undressed the boy and put his Winter Soldier pajamas on. He smiled when he remembered how Randall had demanded Jake find him a Winter Soldier pajama. He didn't want Captain America or Superman or Batman, he wanted the Winter Soldier. Jake's mother had given up and spent an entire week to make a pajama shirt with the print of Bucky Barnes' mechanical arm, and the armor specifically to Randall's size. She had loved doing it simply because Randall was such a quiet boy, he didn't talk unless he needed to or wanted to and that was rarely often.

Jake kissed Randall on the forehead and then stood up. It wasn't like it was against the rules for Jake to bring Randall to Camp Half-Blood. Even if it was it couldn't be helped because Percy and Annabeth wanted to hold their wedding in Camp. 

"Mm..." Randall grumbled in his sleep before opening his eyes and staring at Jake half asleep. Jake gave the boy a smile before the boy reached his hand out to put his small hands in Jake's big callus ed ones. "Dad," Randall grumbled in his dried sleepy voice.

"Yes, Rand?" Jake smiled. He watched Randall's voice soften into pure happiness. He liked when Jake called him Rand.

"Can I really go?"

Jake paused in thought for a moment. Making a quick decision he smiled back at Randall. "Yes, you can go." Randall's smile brightened even though he was still half asleep. "I'm sure you would love to meet the kids who has the bracelets I made."

"The one  that has my symbol?" Randall yawned loudly as he said. Jake found himself chuckling. Randall was exhausted. The boy didn't have friends but he never seemed to worry about it. In fact he seemed to positively glow and become stronger by the mere fact that everyone avoided him. Being avoided and left alone didn't hurt Randall as much as it had hurt Jake when he was young, it made him grow independently. Randall was stronger for it.

"Yes, those." 

"I want to meet them," Randall said before yawning and mumbling something into slumber. Jake kissed Randall on the forehead again and slowly took the tiny hand out of his palm.

"Hello?" Jake answered his cell phone that has been vibrating in his pocket since Randall was half-awake. "Mom?" Jake suddenly felt alarmed by the hysterical voice on the other line. It wasn't his mother on the phone even though that's who the caller ID told him was calling.

"Samantha..." the voice on the line  changed from his grandmother's to  his grandfather's. "Your mom's been taken to the hospital, Jake." Jake felt lost all of a sudden. His mother was the healthiest person he knew. She planned their meals based on nutritional value--sometimes splurging a little with snacks and dessert but always being careful. She took walks and jogs in the afternoon. She went to get checkups regularly.

"Who...?" Jake tried to ask. Who hurt his mother?

"She's okay, they took her to the hospital just to be sure," his grandfather assured Jake. Jake wasn't assured. His mother was hurt. Someone had hurt her and he wanted her to be okay, to be safe... to be alive. "She was pulling out her car in the drive when a motorcyclist crashed into the back of her car. Don't worry."

"Of course I'm going to worry," Jake nearly shouted the moment his feet stepped down to the first floor of the cabin. "You just told me my mother was in the hospital and that some idiot crashed into her car!" Jake snapped. He suddenly couldn't calm himself down. His mother was hurt. 

"She's my daughter, Jake. You think I don't want to be there beside her?" his grandfather's unwavering voice asked over the line. Jake suddenly paused again. Of course, his grandfather was even more worried. "Samantha wanted me to call you and let you know not to worry."

"I..." Jake tried to breathe and calm himself. "I..." Jake couldn't think. His thoughts wouldn't connect.

"Stay with Randy. We'll let you know in the morning." 

Jake bit the inside of his cheek and nodded. "Understood." He hung up, feeling like despite all he had accomplished and achieved he still couldn't protect those dear to him. 


	10. the Wedding Reception

Winter solstice. Why did Percy Jackson have to choose one of the coldest times of the year to get married? Of course anyone who was around when Percy Jackson first came to Camp Half-Blood knew very well why he and Annabeth Chase chose December 21 st , 2016 to  have their wedding. The Winter Solstice was when Zeus’ lightning bolt had been stolen, and it was how Percy’s troubles started and how he met Annabeth.

Still, for Jake it was not a pretty ride. He had to drive from Colorado all the way to Camp Half-Blood with Randall in toll. Worse, because of the wedding there wasn’t enough space and most of the guests had to rent a hotel or motel to travel back to in town. Jake had been lucky to have received that message while still driving and made a reservation in a hotel. Randall had a field day the moment they came into their room. 

“Jake is this where the wedding is going to be?” Randall asked, lying on the bed closest to the window and proceeding to curl up in it. Jake smiled, watching how Randall immediately claimed his space.

“No, it’s where we’re staying. The wedding isn’t until Wednesday,” Jake answered, sitting down on the bed closest to the door and bathroom.

“But it’s Sunday…” Randall frowned.

“We will be home for Christmas,” Jake smiled.

“But…”

Jake decided to use his best distracting idea. “How about we go Christmas shopping?” Randall’s eyes lit up and he immediately leapt off the bed and rushed into Jake’s lap. “What should we get grandma?” Jake asked.

* * *

 

Connor was rushing. Aw dammit he knew he shouldn’t have gone the way Travis had told him. Take 95 and not 495 he said, then take a boat out over the Sound he said. How in Hades did Travis manage this route in the dead of winter a year ago when they were bringing Alethea back?

Connor sneezed as he pulled himself out of the beach. Falling into the water and having to swim was not his most coordinated trip yet.  He was just crawling out of the sand into the grass when he saw a group of kids. Three of them, and one looked very familiar as she came running with the two boys in toll.

Noticing the waving purple cloak one of the boys wore Connor cursed under his breath. That was Alethea and Ernest with a new friend. Alethea smiled as she leapt on top of Connor lying on his back.

“Connor!” Alethea squealed as she hugged him.

“You made it,” Ernest said sternly looking very much the Roman legionnaire. Then the boy frowned, “You’re late.”

“Well Travis needs practice giving directions,” Connor smiled up at Ernest. “Wait, why’re you here?” Connor asked, realizing that it was the middle of winter and Alethea wasn’t a full-time camper.

“For the wedding,” Alethea answered as she got off him. Ernest held out a hand and helped pull Connor into a sitting position. “We got special invitations.” She was beaming again with that prideful smile.  The other boy with them seemed familiarly distant, like he was there but not there.

Connor rolled his eyes as he stood up. “You aren’t all that special,” he claimed brushing most of the sand off his wet clothes. He noted Alethea’s smile turning into a glare. He put a hand on her head and quickly re move  it. “Good thing my present’s waterproof.”

“What is it?”

“The best gift ever.”

Alethea rolled her eyes at him. Connor raised an eyebrow in challenge but she lifted her chin up, arms folded to her chest, and took a defiant stance. Connor held back his laugh, taking her very seriously as best he could.

“I did spend a good amount with Percy when he first got here,” Connor pointed out, conceding to Alethea’s childishness. He pulled his backpack off his back, hearing the slosh of water inside it. He opened it up and looked inside, knowing very well his clothes were wet. Perfect--not.

"The wedding's going to start," Ernest reminded him.

Connor groaned. "I'm going to kill Travis soon." Connor bent down and kissed Alethea on the cheek, knowing the very act shocked her. "We'll talk later." Connor rushed off to towards his old cabin.

Just as Connor was in the middle of trying to figure out what to do with his wet suit he felt an even colder chill. Connor sneezed, for a moment refusing to turn towards the door, trying his best to believe that it was in fact him catching a cold when he fell into that wintery water and had to swim for his life. He looked anyways and met with Nico di Angelo's coldest look. His eyes were almost completely black if only for a moment.

"Nico," Connor greeted the man as he walked towards the slimmer and shorter man standing at the cabin door. "How are you?"

"Fine," Nico answered. Ever since  what happened with  Will and Nico's straining relationship in the summer Connor had  been  a little more distant  with  them. Nico was unusually aware of Connor  b e cause  Connor had once confessed to having feelings towards Will. Not like Connor was all that interested at this point.

"And the preparations?" Connor asked when Nico said nothing else.

"You are wet."

"Yes, I am," Connor agreed. It was probably best not to point out that Nico did not answer his question.

"And late."

"And I'm very sorry," Connor tried next. "I'm trying to dry my suit." At the moment Connor was wearing sweatpants he'd commandeered off  an  Hermes cabin occupant and a t-shirt from  another occupant. He'd grabbed a red sweater from one of the older Hermes kids. He'd missed the days when he held some authority over them,  b ecayse  Connor had  to literally  threaten the kids just to salvage this much.

"I brought one for you," Nico said.

"What  do you mean ?"

Nico turned and started to walk out. Connor didn't really know what to do so he followed after Nico. By the time he'd entered Nico's cabin he realized he was barefoot, but it didn't really make a difference it seemed.

"Here." Nico pressed the dark three-piece of fine material  wrapped in transparent plastic  into Connor's chest. With a demanding tone Nico then said, "Take a shower then wear this. Here's the shoes." Nico plopped the shiny black shoes into Connor's arm s . "Travis said you were going to show up wet."

"You never want to get on Travis' bad side," Connor sighed loudly. He grinned at Nico as the man was glaring at him too. "He's the t ype  that gets revenge in a very low-key twisted way." 

Nico patted Connor's shoulder. "I already knew." They stared at each other until Nico gave him a smile. "He wasn't all too happy about what you did at the reunion." Connor laughed although he felt more nervous. Will used to say one of the best telltale signs about Nico's anger was when the room's temperature dropped to chilling. Connor still couldn't tell if he was cold to the bone because of his earlier dip into the w ater or if Nico was piss  off.

“What did I do?” Connor asked. He was sincerely asking because he didn’t remember slighting his brother.

“You left without a goodbye.”

Unnerving how Nico could stare at him right in the eyes and say it to his face.  Travis and the others could barely look him in the face the first time they bumped into each other in New Rome. After that there were awkward phone calls and video camming. He never really got the chance to talk to Nico about it, and Connor  hadn't  really  been  looking forward to meeting the best man.

“I guess I wouldn’t really understand,” Nico said as he continued to lock eyes with Connor. It was like the son of Hades was looking and judging Connor’s very soul and his past decisions.  He continued, “I had a sister, and for a long time I believed she was the only one that ever accepted me. All of me.” Connor felt himself shaken a little by Nico’s words.  Accept.  “But I don’t have a brother. For me Blanca was the central pillar of what one could call family.”  Family.  Connor wanted to but he couldn’t disengage his eyes from Nico’s. It was like he was being pulled in and grounded in place at the same time. “I can guess what it is like to have a brother—or brothers. Percy and Jason have been very insistent on  it, such that when they found out I ditched them in the summer to be with Will they weren’t mad but saddened.”

Connor didn’t really know what to say. The fact that Nico was  saying more than three sentences  to him was sort of a surprise. He was used to Nico silently denying everything in existence. Yet he also knew that what Nico said was how Travis felt and how Connor would have felt if Travis had done the same thing. 

“ I’m going to shower,” Connor decided to say.

As he turned around to leave Nico called out to him. “Don’t feel guilt over it.” Connor stopped just before getting to the door. He stood where he was unsure about how to respond to that. How could he not fe el  guilt when he left his brother thinking they would never see each other again? “You lived most of your life  not regretting anything. At least most anything.”

“For someone who acts like no one can understand him you sure talk like you do understand me,” Connor spat out. It wasn’t what he meant to say but he wasn’t going to hide  the fact about how petty he was or how annoyed he was. He appreciated the thought but he didn’t need Nico di Angelo telling him what was best for him.

“From what Travis told me,” Nico began just as Connor was about to leave again, “It almost sounded like you didn’t leave your own behind.” Connor stopped and turned a round again. Glaring was probably the only thing he could do properly when he turned toward Nico. He couldn’t bring himself to say the words bubbling from the pit of his stomach. “You were also very observant about Will and my relationship,” Nico pointed out.

Bait. Nico was baiting him.

Connor smiled at Nico. “Dude, Nico I know I’m pretty hot to look at but I’m not about to steal my buddy’s boyfriend.” Connor shook his head as he chuckled and quickly turned away to rush for the bath house. He couldn’t look back.

Connor had to admit Nico had pretty good taste and  observant eyes . The three-piece suit fitted him perfectly. Eyeing a very dashing Percy Jackson in his tux Connor had to also admit that it was probably the smarter choice to have Nico as Percy’s best man. Gods only know what would kind of wedding it would be if Jason was left to help plan it \--he couldn't even imagine what Grover would have come up with . Connor wasn’t at the bachelor party yesterday—thanks to Travis’ horrible directions—but he’d heard in passing that aside from the naiads intruding the only thing the guys did yesterda y was play poker and video game s . Nico had also done a great job keeping Percy at a manageable level of drunk.

Watching Grover Underwood blow his nose into a hanky Connor suddenly felt like gazing at something a little less melodramatic. Grover had already started crying the moment Annabeth came down the aisle with her father.  Years ago Connor remembered hearing that Grover had been forced to wear a wedding dress and act like the bride of a cyclops. It was probably why Grover didn't fight over the best man position, because as mature and worldly that Grover has become there was still some trauma when it came to being part of a wedding. 

His eyes landed on a head  of  dark hair and cool blue eyes… eyes staring right back at him. Connor felt his breath still and ever y  fiber in his being frozen into place like a glitch. Was that really him?

The ceremony past without Connor noticing as he looked at the carpeted floor. He didn’t notice anything. A monster could have attacked and ruined the ceremony and Connor would have stood still staring at the ground.

“Con,” Travis whispered harshly into Connor’s ear. “Come on the reception’s going to start soon.”

“R-right.”

With unsure footing Connor followed after his brother and the man walking beside him. Michael  Kahale  didn’t seem to care at all who stared at him with his fingers intertwined with Travis’. Where did the man find such confidence? He wasn’t afraid of being challenged at all, and he didn’t care about being rejected either. He even so much as threatened to renounce his allegiance for Travis. Connor respected the man but he’d already gone too far in to stop despising the man. So he’d settled for being a menace.

Connor sat through most of the reception and  dancing  doing his best not to look at the dark haired man with blues eyes wearing that form fitting suit. A suit that perfectly encased those broad shoulders, tight muscles and the wonderful hips  with most likely a perfect V-shape.

“Katie Gardner looks like she’s waiting for you to ask her to dance,” a voice said next to him. Connor blinked, realizing he was one of the few guests who weren’t on the dance floor.

“Jason, hey,” he slowly looked at the man and turned back to gazing at nothing in particular.

“So you going to ask her?” Jason asked.

“No.”

“Too bad, it looks like she wanted to dance.”

“I don’t have a thing for her, okay,” Connor rolled his eyes. He stared at Jason sternly before breaking into a smile. “Come on, we’ve been at each other’s throats for how many years? I don’t think I want to be any closer to her  or she'll actually  slit my throat.” Connor chuckled before he turned his ga z e to the dance floor. Percy and Annabeth were still on the dance floor, so was Michael and Travis.

“Hey, look,” Jason slapped his shoulder and nodded towards the outskirt of the dance floor. Reyna was pulling Rachel out of the dance floor towards the more secluded area of the Big House on the hill. “Reyna’s been excited ever since she met up with Jake earlier this morning.”

“How do you know she was excited?” Connor asked as he made himself sound preoccupied looking into the crowd on the dancefloor again. He really did not want to think about Jake Mason.

“That look in her eyes,” Jason replied knowingly. “Reyna has this look in her like fire when she knows she’s coming up with a good challenge. It’s like adrenaline but different.” Connor nodded to show he was listening wh ile  pretending to preoccupy himself looking for something or someone in the crowd. “Jake’s gone too.”

“Think they’re meeting up?” Connor asked, not missing a beat.

“Not sure, what would she need with Rachel if she was?” Jason asked him next. Ah, looks like Jake was trying to fish for information from him too. Why and since when was everyone so interested in his affairs?

“Girl advice? Threesome? Who knows,” Connor replied immediately. He then locked his gaze on Alethea dancing at the side of the dancefloor by the tables with Ernest. The boy that was with them earlier in the morning was sitting on one of the chairs watching. Then Alethea separated from Ernest and turned to offer a dance with the other boy next. 

“You really think Jake’s capable of that?”

Connor almost didn’t register the question as he watched the other boy awkward ly  begin the  dance  steps with Alethea. He felt a smile twitch against his lips.

“No,” he finally remembered to answer. “But then it isn’t like I know Mason all that well.”

“So you going to ask anyone to dance?”

Connor rolled his eyes and looked over at Jason. “Is that why you’re still here?” He sighed when Jason greeted him with a wide grin. 

Standing up Connor made a quick decision to get Jason off his back. Nico probably sent him over. “Got it.” Connor made a beeline for Alethea immediately. One dance.

“Can I have this dance?” Connor asked Alethea when the next song came on. Alethea stared up at him with wonder before smiling up at him happily. “Come now princess,” Connor gave her a dashing smile as he accepted her hand and led her a little further into the dance floor. He made sure there was enough  room  so they weren’t close to the adult s--or big people as Alethea liked calling them.

“You look nice,” Alethea smiled up at him as Connor began with slow simple steps.

“Thank you, you’re very dashing yourself,” Connor admitted with a smile. Alethea came dressed in dress shorts with suspenders over a white collared shirt and bowtie.

“Thanks. Will likes it.”

“I’m sure he does,” Connor laughed. Alethea’s adoration border-lining hero-worship for Will  never got old. “So tell me which of them do you like better?”

Alethea frowned in confusion. “Who?”

“Ernest or the other boy,” Connor nodded towards the boys sitting at the closest table watching them.

Her frown deepened. “I like them the same.”

“Pick one.”

“I can’t. I  like them.”

Connor tried not to laugh just yet. “If you had to save one of them who would you save if you can’t save both of them?” Connor asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Just think about it.”

Alethea glared up at him, her head completely tilted. “I would tell them they can save themselves.”

“Oh?” That was an interesting answer.

Alethea shrugged. “Ernest is strong and Randall is smart.  T hey won’t need me to save them.” Connor smiled as  the song ended. He bent down and  kissed her cheek. She was wise for someone her age. Uncanny how she could think of an answer no one ev er really thought about before. “Sometimes it’s good to look up, you know.” Alethea flashed a smile as she bounced on her tiptoes. She hugged Connor tightly and let him go. “I missed you.”

Just as Connor tried to assure her he would be around even if he wasn’t around as often anymore a voice from behind him asked to cut in. Connor quickly moved aside to let the man dance with Alethea.

Connor didn’t look Jake in the eyes but he saw how Alethea looked up at him. She smiled at Jake then at Connor and turned towards her friends. Connor was about to reach out and stop her but a big callused hand took hold of his own.

“I meant I wanted to dance with you,” Jake’s voice whispered into Connor’s ear as they drew together closer. Connor closed his eyes tight as Jake’s hands wrapped around his waist. He tried to think that he was dancing with anyone other than Jake. A man at a club or a woman even, but not Jake. 

Jake shifted closer and Connor couldn’t shift back because of the hands around his waist.  Then Jake asked him in a low voice as Connor was trying to measure how long the song would go, “Are you embarrassed to dance with a man?”

“No.” Connor opened his eyes and had looked up already when he said it. Blue eyes dark like midnight and brilliant like the sea stared into his. “No,” he said  in a smaller voice  as he looked down and turned his face away. Looking at the crowd no one seemed to notice them dancing at all. In fact Rachel was dancing with Reyna,  Michael was for some reason dancing with Will, and Travis was laughing as he danced with Percy. There was a horde of same-sex dancing couples mixed into the crowd. 

“Are you afraid of me?”

“No.” Connor closed his eyes again.

Jake stopped moving and they were suddenly standing still. The hands on his waist began to move away from him. Connor dropped his hands from Jake’s shoulders.

“I’m sorry,” Jake said. “After what I did you probably didn’t want to see me again.” Saying that of course Connor hadn’t thought of seeing Jake again. “I didn’t mean to force you again.”

Connor grabbed Jake before he left. Noticing how everyone looked at them because they’d stopped, he pulled in closer to Jake and they started to slowly dance again. Jake didn’t put his hands on Connor and he didn’t say a word as they danced.

“What do you mean force me again?” Connor whispered to Jake. Was this entire thing a misunderstanding?

“Don’t make me say it,” Jake mumbled. Connor looked up at him, his dark hair was nicely styled for the occasion  but he looked a lot like he did when he had to sit and listen to Will and the other lecture him and argue as Connor’s wrist got bandaged.

Nervously, hoping he was right, Connor whispered quickly, “I mean did you think what we did was you forcing me? That I didn’t want it and that you were forcing me to dance with you just now too?” Jake didn’t voice his answer but gave a slight jerky nod. Connor felt a weight on his shoulders lifted immediately. He leaned his head on Jake’s shoulder and wrapped his arms around Jake’s waist to hug the man. He chuckled to himself until Jake asked him if he was okay.

“You weren’t forcing me to do anything,” Connor chuckled and turned his mouth towards Jake’s neck. He  peck a kiss there and sighed. “I was watching you that night. I wanted it too, I just…” Connor didn’t know how to explain it. He still didn’t want to talk about it because wasn’t it just one night for both of them? Or was that also a misunderstanding? “Anyways you didn’t force me. And I don’t mind dancing with you.”

“You left,” Jake said. Connor felt the man’s hands slowly overlap Connor’s own and then trace down from Connor’s waist toward his hips.

“Well I…” Connor felt himself gravitate towards Jake’s lips. He was suddenly thirsty and wanted to quench his thirst with a kiss. Connor was close to those lips when he caught himself and pulled away from Jake. He looked around and noticed others were changing partners or leaving the dance floor. The song had ended. 

Jake merely stared at him, as if waiting for Connor to decide. It didn’t look like Jake was affected the same way Connor was.

“It was one night,” Connor said. His voice sounded scratchy and grounded. “Not even a night. It was a quickie. A hookup.” Connor turned away and left the dance floor.


	11. In the Hotel Room

Jake sighed as he laid Randall in his hotel bed. The boy had gone to sleep exhausted before the end of the reception. Jake stripped the boy down to his underwear and the muscle shirt he wore. He laid out Randall’s pajamas and then proceeded to undress himself.

First he undid his tie and then his pants. He was at his limit again. It wasn’t like Jake didn’t have primal urges, it was just that he didn’t have them often. He hid it in town and he hid it at Camp. The only time he ever really tried to just let himself loose was when he wasn’t at either places. Tonight was different, watching Connor laugh and play made Jake arouse. Watching how Connor’s eyes brightened up when he spoke to Alethea, as if she was some precious diamond in the world ever made, Jake feel something he was too cowardly to admit.

 There was banging at his hotel door just as Jake was half-way down unbuttoning his shirt. He checked the peep-hole and saw a head of brown hair pointed at him. A drunk who probably got the wrong room, he figured. So Jake opened the door.

“Wrong-” he was in the middle of saying when the man lifted up his head and squinted at Jake. “Stoll?” Jake grabbed onto Connor before he collapsed in front of him. His breath smelled like alcohol. “You’re drunk.”

Connor tried to mumble something but ended up gurgling and slurring instead. The drunk probably gave up the effort to say anything. Jake looked at the floor to see if Connor dropped anything. Sure enough lying on the carpet floor was a keycard for a hotel room door.

“Which room is it?” Jake asked to himself as he picked it up off the ground. Jake sighed then, deciding it was best to just stick Connor in his own bed for now. Jake tested Connor’s deadweight and decided Connor was light enough to carry. He set Connor on his bed before turning to close his hotel room door.

He grabbed one of the glass cups on the table in the hotel room and walked into the bathroom. He filled the glass with water and came back to Connor. Sitting on the side of the bed Jake sighed heavily. Another kid to watch over tonight apparently. He would have preferred unwinding in the hotel's bar downstairs with a drink before coming back up to sleep.

Connor didn’t smell heavily of alcohol, so he could be a lightweight. Or it could mean there was some other component to getting Connor to that state of mind. It was a good thing Connor had accidentally found Jake instead of some stranger. Not that Connor wouldn’t have been safe but that Connor wouldn’t be so embarrassed because a stranger had found him.

“Wake up, kid,” Jake sighed one more time. His hands naturally ran through Connor’s soft brown hair. Connor groaned and moved away as if he was asleep and not dead drunk. “Drink some water.” Connor groaned.

“Bro… can’t…” Connor mumbled under his breath, eyes still closed.

“I’m not Travis. Wake up and drink,” Jake urged him one more time. Putting a hand under Connor’s head Jake lifted him up so he could drink. He brought the cup to Connor’s lips but the man still didn’t drink. Jake had been hoping that by instinct Connor would. “Con…” Jake whispered, trying not to accidentally alarm him.

This time Connor moaned and shifted his head from Jake’s cradle onto Jake’s shoulder. Then Connor mumbled a quiet “leave me alone” before shivering down to his knees and breathing heavily. It was obvious Connor couldn’t hold alcohol and yet he was drinking. It was amazing that Connor even managed to get here.

“Fine…” Jake gave up and put the cup of water on the nightstand. He gently tried to set Connor back on the bed. “At least undress yourself.” Jake said.

“You do it…” Connor replied. “Too tired…” Jake sighed. Connor still thought that Jake was Travis. Damn, was this what Travis had to go through with Connor all the time? Taking care of this guy’s every whim like he was some prince? What in Hades was with that? Connor was a grown man—at least in body—he could at least take care of himself, not make his brother do it.

“I’m telling you I’m not Travis,” Jake said as he leaned forward to undo the dark black tie on Connor’s collar.

Mere millimeters before he touched the tie Connor responded, “Shut up Mike, just do it already.” Jake felt himself losing his patience. First he was Travis, now he was “Mike”? Connor needed to grow up or people are never going to take him seriously.

“I’m not Mike either.”

Connor groaned, slapping Jake’s hand away despite not having even opened his eyes at all. Connor took in a few deep breaths and seemed to have drifted off to sleep. Jake waited, silently watching what the Connor under the influence of alcohol would do next.

“Nico’s gonna…” Connor started to say but his words slurred and faded. “…His clothes…” Faded again. “Kill…”

Jake didn’t really know what was being sad but he decided to undo the tie and unbutton the shirt. He did it quickly but then he got to unbuckling the belt and undoing the pants. Jake paused there, debating with himself. Could he trust himself not to take advantage of Connor? It wasn't like Jake hasn't taken care of drunks before, woman or man, and not touch them in any sexual way. He's been known to be the "good guy" at bars even though he looked differently.

Closing his eyes Jake finished stripping Connor's well toned body of its clothing until all Connor should have on was his boxers.

"Dad?"

Jake's eyes shot up. Randall. He saw his son uncurl and sit up like a puppy, staring right at him and Connor. His big round eyes focused somewhere on the bed and Jake followed the gaze until he realized why Randall was staring. He quickly covered Connor's naked body with the bedsheets and walked to Randall.

"Jake why is his little shooter standing up?" Randall asked curiously, but murmuring and mumbling the entire time. Randall was awake but he was still part asleep. It would be a Godsend if Randall didn't remember much of this tomorrow morning. He just saw Connor's erection for crying out loud, he did NOT want Randall remembering that into puberty. "Does he need to go pee?" Randall yawned as Jake sat in front of him to block his view of Connor.

"Unlike you," Jake managed to give Randall a teasing smile, "He can hold it until the morning." Randall's eyes widened.

"REALLY?"

"Yes," Jake chuckled as he ran his hand through the boy's soft hair. "Now, do you need to go to the bathroom or do want to drink some water?" Randall furrowed his brow and concentrated in thought. Then he shook his head and laid back down to snuggle into the sheets. "I'll join you in a bit then." Jake kissed Randall's head before returning to the bathroom to get ready for bed himself.

When Jake stepped out of the shower he realized his mistake was to leave the bathroom door open, because there was Connor crouching over the sink looking very pale. Jake grabbed a towel and quickly wrapped it around his waist before moving towards Connor. The other man groaned not exactly out of pain but seemingly out of exhaustion.

"Are you..." Jake realized why Connor seemed the way he was. Sure he had some alcohol but the signs that Connor was sick was definitely there. Shivering, cold, delirious, even exhausted. He turned the shower back on and stood with Connor under the hot spray.

"I think Imma be..." Connor almost purged the content of his stomach onto Jake. It wouldn't have been much of a problem if Connor had puked because they were both naked under the shower. It would still have been disgusting though. Connor set his head on Jake's shoulder and groaned loudly, his voice echoing and bouncing off the bathroom tiles.

"You are already sick," Jake sighed heavily. Now on top of having _two_ kids to watch over the night he had a sick one. Jake was going to have to make sure Connor doesn't infect Randall.

"Man, sorry Percy..." Connor was saying. Even standing naked together under a show and Connor still couldn't tell it was Jake. "I..." Connor gagged, almost puking again. Jake took a deep breath and then began rubbing circles on Connor's strong back.

Jake half-carried and half-dragged Connor out of the bathroom after drying them both off. He sat Connor down on his bed but Connor flung himself backwards and collapsed into it. Jake shook his head, wondering exactly how Connor could just spread-eagle naked in total exhaustion with someone so defensively. Jake peeked over his shoulder and saw that Randall was still curled in his bed all on his own like a wolf cub in a lonely den. Fast asleep again.

Jake pulled on his sweat pants then walked back to Connor sleeping in the nude. Why wasn't he wearing any underwear? Jake put a knee on the edge of the bed between Connor's legs. _Think of it like changing diapers. Changing diapers._ Jake grabbed one of Connor's long and powerful legs--smooth legs. Why did the man have _smooth_ legs? Gods and Fates why was Jake being tortured?

* * *

 

Waking up was like getting nailed in the forehead--like a pig. Connor moaned but then his voice didn't exactly come out sounding like his. Opening his eyes took enough of his energy, it was like he had on lead eyelashes. It was all he could do to squint at the morning sunlight in his hotel room.

He heard the sound like it originated from the other end of a tunnel. He turned his head a little so he could stare in front of him. Someone was changing clothes. Nice, broad shoulders with good tanned skin and amazing muscles. Tall. He was tall. His arms were amazing to look at--powerful and sexy. Connor felt his already dried lips go even drier.

It was hard to keep his eyes completely open but Connor looked at the rest of the man's body. His waist looked nice and inviting. Connor had this base urge to wrap his legs around that muscular waist and spread his hand over that perfect V-shape and up to the man’s abs. In his head he knew he was supposed to be on high alert. There was a man undressing in his hotel room. Instead Connor went back to sleep silently dreaming about a male lover in bed.

When he did wake up again Connor felt in desperate need of food. His stomach felt so empty he wanted to puke. He didn’t even have the energy to open his eyes. His head still hurt too.

“Open your mouth,” a gentle voice whispered into his ear. A hand was under his head, lifting him up. Connor tried to take in the water and drink, but every part of him wouldn’t respond to his command.

“Look away,” the same voice said. Connor wasn’t sure why it did. Soft lips touched his and Connor’s brain began to go into emergency mode. He was being invaded. His mouth was-

Cool water slithered down his throat. Refreshing cold water, it felt like life. Connor calmed down as the lips pulled away. Safe. He was safe. The stranger was of not imminent danger to him or at all life-threatening. Part of Connor frowned at the fact that he was so unaware about his surroundings but everything else told him he was secure and safe.

Connor woke up again to the view from earlier. This time he was able to open his eyes easier and most of his body didn't feel so heavy. He stared at the man with his back to Connor as he took off his shirt. His entire being resonated with the need to have this man touch him sensually, to be able to feel those defined muscles and tanned skin.

"Jake, his little shooter needs to go pee again!" a voice cried from Connor's side.

 _Jake?_ Oh Gods, this wasn't his hotel room. Complete and utter humiliation rolled over Connor at the realization. Not only that but a kid just saw his tent.

A chuckle carried through the silent room until Jake in his half-nakedness turned around. "Morning," Jake grinned. Connor's heart skipped a beat--literally. Then of course he realized Jake wasn't exactly smiling at him but the kid who was in the bed next to Connor's. "Sleep well, Randall?"

 _Randall?_ Connor turned his head to the side and looked at the kid. He recognized him from the wedding. He was the kid with Ernest and Alethea. The slightly quiet but observant one. So he was Jake's... Wait, he was Jake's? Jake has a son?

"Yes, I have a son," Jake answered.

"Did I just say that out loud?" Connor asked.

"It's that look," Jake said as he walked over to Connor's bedside. He rubbed the spot between Connor's eyes were his eyebrows usually furrowed. Connor's been told that when he got angry or frustrated that the spot there wrinkled. "Like you were shocked and confused but trying to figure something out." Connor rolled his eyes. "I was sixteen, you know. It was a shock." It wasn't like Connor had been trying to do the math exactly.

"So he's about Alethea's age?"

"Yes, I guess."

"Jake his little shooter!" Randall's voice urgently pleaded. Connor felt his entire face go red just as Jake burst into chuckles. "He's gonna wet the bed!"

"I hear you, Randall," Jake gasped as he swallowed his laughter. Connor groaned. It wasn't like he could exactly help how he felt. "You watch some TV, I will help Connor with his problem."

Randall nodded, as though that was exactly how he should be. Then he sat down like a puppy again and grabbed the TV remote. Connor closed his eyes as Jake decisively carried Connor off the bed into the bathroom like a princess.

"You good?" Jake asked as he cautiously left Connor to stand on his own. Connor briskly nodded and turned away. Gods, this could not be more humiliating. "You're still a bit feverish so let me know if you need help." Then he turned away.

Before Jake could fully retreat from the bathroom Connor managed to whisper his name. Gods this was going to be even more embarrassing. He was standing naked in front of a toilet, there was a kid in the hotel room watching morning cartoons, and it was Jake he was calling. Things could not get any worse than they already were.

"Help..."

Jake came back to him. Connor closed his eyes tight. Of all the things he have done in his life, all the pranks and jokes he never imagined that he would be so regretful about his behavior until now. Connor moved his hand until his knuckles touched Jake's unaware ones, then he tangled his fingers with Jake's. He felt pathetic but he didn't exactly have the strength.

"Please..." Connor whimpered. "I need you to..." Connor couldn't finish his plead. Dear gods don't make him finish his plea. He was barely standing, about to tip over, but all he could think about was the immediate primal release his body needed.

"You need me to...?" Jake sounded honestly confused. He wasn't trying to bait Connor to finish his plea. Gods, Jake couldn't be that slow. Wasn't he used to one-night stands and such? Connor moved the hand now intertwined with Jake's over towards his hard cock. Then Jake understood.

"Please..." Connor begged, barely able to push out the necessary breath to say it. Connor wanted to dig a hole and bury himself in it alive. "I... I know it's... hard to ask..." Connor shakily tried to logically ask for Jake's help. He really just wanted to say something, anything, to get past this. "I just... I'm about to fall over you know..." Connor could already feel himself going woozy in the head. It might be from the internal panic or from his fever, he wasn't too sure.

"Shit," Jake cursed before pulled away from Connor and walking out of the bathroom.

Connor doubled over the toilet bowl, groaning. His head hurt, part of him felt rejected and wanted to cry, the other part really just wanted to have some food in his stomach and then sleep. Connor could barely keep himself hunched over the toilet, trying to pull himself up with the last bit of strength.


	12. In the Hotel Bathroom

Jake pulled out his wireless headphones and stuffed it on Randall, covering his ears. He quickly connected the audio piece to the TV and made sure Randall was still glue to his cartoons. Desperate did not describe Jake.

He locked the bathroom door as he closed it and grabbed Connor who was crouching over the toilet. Jake removed all the clothing in the way between their bodies then stepped into the shower with Connor. The warm spray fell mostly on Connor’s back but even that was serving to be very erotic.

“I…” Connor stuttered. “I thought...”

“You’re a cock-tease you know that?” Jake growled under his breath. He turned Connor around to face the showerhead and pulled his hips forward. “Remember that you asked.” Jake held back as much as he could as he began to pump Connor’s erection.

As Connor strained against Jake’s body, the feverish man also relaxed into Jake’s hold. “Coming…” Connor strangled out, not so much as making any sound other than his heavy breathing when he did release his load over Jake’s fingers.

“That was quick,” Jake commented, lifting his fingers up to look at Connor’s evidence. He’d never imagined he would be given the chance to touch Connor this way again. He felt relieved and yet not at the same time.

Jake must have spoken too soon. He had to get Connor off two more times in the shower. He figured since they were already in the shower they might as well clean up. Connor had at least a day of stubble growing, and he had sweated due to his sickness. Apparently Connor found it a turn on to watch Jake wash himself. He was keen to eyeing Jake’s upper body for some reason.

After Jake had gotten Connor off the second time in the shower he helped Connor finish showering too. It was probably one of his dumber moments because Jake’s entire body heated up and so did Connor’s. Jake got Connor off a second time and then immediately finished washing up before taking them both out of the shower.

From there he was drying himself and then Connor when it happened again. Gods, did Connor have a quick recovery or what. Jake almost killed the man. He sat on the toilet with Connor in his lap when he helped Connor the fourth time.

“Ah…” Connor gasped. Jake almost hesitated. Connor never made a noise unless he was gasping loudly for breath. Almost like saying Jake wasn’t a very good sex partner. When Jake tested to see if the noise Connor made was just a fluke but moving his ministration in a more teasing manner his answer was clear. Connor moaned and it echoed off the bathroom tiles. It was a good thing he made Randall where those headphones.

“J-Jake…” Connor whimpered, leaning into Jake’s chest and reaching his arm behind Jake’s head. Connor’s chilled hands grasped Jake’s neck and pulled him closer. “I…” Connor was in the middle of saying something when Jake pulled Connor’s thighs open a little more and used his other hand to play with Connor’s sacks. This time Connor moaned even sweeter than before.

Jake couldn’t help himself. He pressed his own hard-on even closer to Connor’s backside. Connor’s sharp breath was enough to tell him that the man had become aware of it. Jake forced himself to stay still as he continued to please Connor. He dragged it as long as he could stand it himself.

Just when he was considering changing tactics Connor started moving his hips on his own. Connor still tried to keep his voice down, but he was instinctively arching his back and rubbing his ass against Jake’s dick. Jake leaned forward, moving one hand to take hold of Connor’s chest to keep him still. His other hand continued to work on Connor’s member.

For a moment he enjoyed Connor’s instinctive indecision before finding release with his member or with his ass. When Jake moved his hips Connor started making some unexpectedly sexy sounds. Considering how arrogant Connor was most of the time it was a little out of place to now know Connor was so comfortable in this kind of vulnerable state.

“Ah…” Connor rubbed but Jake could see the frustration. This was bad. Jake knew what he was doing wasn’t a good thing. Connor was feverish, with the heat from the shower he could even be tired and delirious. Jake was basically taking advantage of the situation. He needed to finish this soon and put Connor back to bed before they went too far. But… “Not enough.” Connor twisted his upper body enough to kiss Jake.

“Dammit.” Jake almost lost himself. He made Connor hit his climax and watch the guy melt into exhausted goo against his body. Jake cursed himself the rest of the way to covering up Connor with a towel and carrying him into bed. Randall was innocently sitting on his own hotel bed staring at the television.

Jake was not cut out for this. He needed to leave, but he couldn’t leave Connor on his own either.

After dressing himself he took the headphones off Randall and took out the connection piece to the TV. Jake kissed the top of Randall’s head and gave a silent prayer to the gods and especially his father to protect Randall and his childhood memories. He really hoped he hasn’t somehow warped Randall’s childhood in some way. What kind of father did _that_ in the bathroom while their son was in the shared space watching TV?

“Jake I’m hungry,” Randall said as he looked up at Jake.

“You fine on your own?” Jake asked.

Randall nodded. Then he recited the rules they’ve always followed. “Don’t leave. Don’t answer the door. Don’t trust anyone you don’t trust. Don’t talk to strangers. Don’t take anything from strangers.”

Jake smiled. Randall said the rules solemnly as if they were a way of life. “What’s the last one?”

Randall’s seriousness turned into a bright smile. “And we take care of our own.”

“Good job,” Jake grinned. Then just as he was grabbing his keys and wallets recalled Connor sleeping in bed and turned back to Randall. “Don’t go near him. Make sure to call me if something happens.” Randall nodded absently as he turned back to his cartoons. Jake shook his head and left the hotel room. 

* * *

 

Connor woke up again with a clearer head. His body still felt heavy but it wasn't something he couldn't handle. Something felt off about the room. It was dark and there weren't any lights on so he supposed everyone was sleeping. When he turned to look at the bed next to him where the boy named Randall was on earlier he found something else blocking his view. A huge span of tanned back muscles. On the back there was a reddish-yellow inked tattoo starting from the middle where his spine was spreading out towards both of his shoulders.

He couldn't help not touching the tattoo. He traced his finger from the middle outwards towards the markings that inked out to the shoulder. Connor couldn't quite tell what the design was, but he tried to focus on what he could see as he traced the ink back towards Jake's spine. He tried piecing it all together as he stared at the design. The tattoo trailed down from the middle of Jake's back up towards his neck as it spanned out towards his shoulders.

"Wings?" Connor whispered to himself as he inched closer, leaning on his side to get a better look.

"Flames."

Connor pushed back towards the edge of the bed he was lying on. He hadn't expected Jake to still be awake.

"It wasn't there earlier..."

Jake turned onto his stomach and stuffed his arms under the pillow. He turned his head towards Connor and said simply, "Glow in the dark."

"Wait, that actually exists?"

"What, did you think it was some urban legend?" Jake chuckled sheepishly. Jake patted the back of his shoulder with his opposite his hand and looked at Connor. "Don't worry, it doesn't burn," he grinned at Connor.

Connor smacked Jake's shoulder next. Connor sat up as Jake laughed and pressed his hand down on Jake's back. It felt smooth, not scarred or bumpy--and it looked smooth too, in comparison to most tattoos. Now that he wasn't looking at the tattoo so closer he could see it. A whirling flame like a firestorm. It was a small flicker of fame at the middle of Jake's back on his spine and widened the further it came towards Jake's neck until it reached out towards his shoulders like spread out wings.

There were a red and yellow color to the color, fusing into orange but when Connor looked at the base of the tattoo the small flicker there was bluish green. Connor couldn't help but touch the part that indented in like a little hollow between Jake's back muscles. Strange, it seemed like some kind of sensual temptation.

The sound of pitiful growling and gurgling broke the magic sucking Connor into the unlit flame on Jake's back. Jake crackled into laughter and giggle as he rolled over onto his side and wrapped an arm around Connor. He sat up and patted Connor's shoulders.

"That's one hell of a stomach cry," Jake chuckled. He pulled over the covers and stepped out of bed shirtless with sweatpants on. "Come on," he nodded towards the table set next to the television. There was definitely nice furniture but the space was narrowly small in the hotel room.

Jake pulled over a paper bag and began to set out a couple takeout boxes. Connor decided his hunger won out over being startled and kicked off the covers. Just as he stepped down onto the cool carpet floor he shivered and then grabbed at the hems of the shirt and pulled it down.

"What..." Connor stuttered to ask or say something. "Why..." He couldn't find the words. He was wearing a t-shirt and only a t-shirt in bed. What was he doing wearing a t-shirt? Why was he only wearing a t-shirt? Whose t-shirt was he wearing? Exactly where are his clothes?

Jake laughed again as he nodded Connor to the table he was now sitting at. Connor embarrassingly walked over and quickly sat down across from Jake, pulling at the hems of the shirt that barely covered his crotch. He wasn't some girl who needed to wear her boyfriend's t-shirt in bed as pajamas. What in Hades was Jake thinking? And exactly how many times did he have to humiliate himself in front of Jake anyways?

"Your suit is perfectly fine," Jake added as he began opening the takeout boxes. "Although it's pretty late and the food's cold, you might as well eat what we have. I don't want to spend anything on room service." Connor frowned, but it wasn't because he was going to be eating cold leftover lo mien and fried chicken. He watched as Jake handed him a fork and became engrossed with his box of lo mien.

Connor slowly ate, his hunger turning the cold oily taste into ambrosia. He watched from under his eyelashes the way Jake’s large fingers held the plastic black fork like he was eating at the dinner table in a family setting in an afternoon soap opera. Jake poked at a stir-fry bean and carrot and brought both to his lips. Even how Jake ate his lo mien wasn’t like he was eating noodles out of a ramen cup. He swirled his fork as if he was eating spaghetti, wrapping the noodles around his fork and bringing that also to his lips and carefully eating it.

It wasn’t his first time noticing this either. He remembered watching Jake eat the last time he visited Camp for the reunion. Travis had made fun of him for subconsciously ordering the same meal as Jake, but Connor had been busy engrossed by the way Jake ate next to his rowdy siblings. He recalled there were times Jake had been just as rowdy and messy, so he had thought that night must’ve been some special case. At the reception dinner for Percy and Annabeth’s wedding he’d figured because it was more polite that Jake also ate so cleanly and appropriately. Then here he was again eating common Chinese leftovers like gourmet food at a five-star restaurant.

“What?” Jake sighed. His hand reached around the white paper bag that produced their late night meal to the plastic bag behind it. From there Jake pulled out a six-pack of soda. Two cans were already missing from the plastic wiring but he pulled another can from the plastic and set it in front of Connor. Then Jake yanked off another one for himself before putting the pop away.

“What?” Connor asked, finally remembering to somehow respond.

“That’s what I asked,” Jake replied. “You keep looking under your eyelids like you have something to say.” Jake opened his can and took a sip. “So?”

“Just,” Connor mumbled. It was a bit hard to say now that he was being told to say it. Jake look him right in the eyes as if he was trying to read the lies out of Connor’s expressions. “Well…” Connor tried again but couldn’t bear to finish. When he look into Jake’s eyes it was so clear and all-seeing Connor had to look away and stare down at his food. He managed to vocalize his words through series of mumbles, “I was… well…” He looked up, saw those eyes and stared back down hastily, “well, why… why you…” Connor almost gave up but forced himself to go through with it, “Why you eat… um… well… Why you eat so… nice?”

Jake coughed and took a big swig of his pop. “I didn’t realize I was doing it.” Jake looked to his right staring at Randall asleep curled up in bed. Connor felt something pinch at him but he couldn’t understand what it was. Seeing that soft look in Jake’s normally hard and serious eyes bothered him for some reason.  

“I’m gonna use the bathroom.” Connor got up but then he saw Jake’s eyes immediately trail down from his chest towards his crotch. He quickly grabbed the front of the shirt and pulled down the hem as far as the cloth would stretch. “Would you stop looking!” he seethed.

Jake smiled in a manner that sent chills down Connor’s body. It was like Jake knew exactly what he was doing and how he wanted to do it. “I’ve already seen all there is to see, so I don’t know why you’re so embarrassed.” Connor felt himself go even redder. He forgot about the bathroom scene earlier, or for that matter that he woke up naked earlier either. Still, it was the idea of…

“It’s your eyes!” Connor snapped. Jake looked up at him a little shocked and confused. It looked like an act to him though. And people called _him_ the mischief? If they knew what Jake was really like now they would think otherwise, Jake’s such a tease.

Connor instinctively backed away when Jake stood up and pushed in his chair. He felt more embarrassed because it seemed like he was afraid of Jake, but it wasn't like he was exactly. For some reason he just felt like being closer to Jake would be dangerous.

"Still weak in the knees?" Jake smiled at him. A chill ran down his skin again. With a single touch Connor felt himself burn hot. Jake's hand wrapped around Connor's bicep and pulled him forward. Jake grinned again and Connor felt like he should have run or tried something because Jake suddenly bent and then picked up Connor in his arm like a princess.

"Wha...what are... you doi...ng?" Connor somehow managed to splutter out in his shock. Before he realized it he was in the bathroom again with Jake standing in the middle holding him up.

"I've also done this before," Jake told him. He said it with such a straight face that Connor wanted to punch him. Jake cocked an eyebrow like he dared Connor to tell him he was lying. Connor looked away, clenching still at the hem of the t-shirt he wore to cover his lower area. "So toilet or shower?"

"Shower."

"Okay."

Jake set Connor inside the shower and then proceeded to take off his sweatpants. This time Connor snapped at him without being flustered, "I can shower on my own!" He grabbed at the rein in the stall tightly. It wasn't like he was going to fall over but he wasn't just going to let Jake keep getting in the shower with him.

"Your fever might have broken but you haven't had anything besides water and soup for two days," Jake reminded him. Jake turned on the shower and then came in naked with Connor into the stall. He pulled over the curtain then grinned at Connor. “What, you rather I give you a bath like I did the first time?”

“What the fuck have you been doing to people while they’re unconscious?” Connor snapped at him, letting the spray fall down on his shoulders. Feeling his anger boil Connor decided to just get it all over with now. “You haven’t even explained why I’m here with you and Randall. Or for that matter why you haven’t tried to call my brother. Are you trying to keep me hostage? Are you drugging me?”

The way Jake just blinked at him made Connor want to smack the dumbfounded look off the man’s face. He couldn’t believe he was actually attracted somehow to this guy. Sure, Connor had always been a bit interested in men but it wasn’t like he’d ever really been turned on by one. Not only that, Jake Mason has as many layers to him as there are freaking layers on an onion.

“Yea let’s get you in the bath instead,” Jake said and completely ignored everything else. He turned off the shower, stepped out of the stall and waved for Connor to sit inside the tub. Connor bit inside his cheek and tried not to do as Jake wanted.

Not like that worked. All Jake had to do was flip Connor into another princess hold and set him inside the tub. Then Jake plugged the tub and turned on the water again. He then began to pull on his own sweatpants.

“I can see why you aren’t married,” Connor grumbled. Jake’s eyes turned into an icy cold glare immediately. Connor knew he’d gone overboard, bringing up a subject he knew exactly nothing about. For all he knew Randall could have been adopted. He couldn’t exactly take back the words either.

“I’m glad I didn’t,” Jake said bluntly. He bent down from where he sat on the covered toilet and grabbed Connor by his neck. Just as Connor opened his mouth to protest Jake swooped in, pulling Connor forward, for a long and deep kiss. “I wouldn’t be able to do that.” Jake released them and sat back on the covered toilet.

“Sorry…” Connor found himself uttering an apology. Jake didn’t say anything but his smile was just so annoy. “Tea…” the word faded from his hollowed whisper.

“What?”

“Tease!” Connor snapped at Jake more strongly. “You called me a cock-tease but you’re even worse! You’re just messing with people’s feelings!” He didn’t know this feeling inside. This frustrated and grasping feeling. He didn’t know what it wanted or what he wanted, but he knew it made him angry and confused when he was with Jake. Like there wasn’t already enough to worry about.

“Yea, well you shouldn’t be messing with people’s libido,” Jake grumbled back at him. His arms crossed over his muscled chest as he glared down at Connor in the bathtub. Connor almost felt like shrinking back but he’s gone up against worse with much less. Then his disloyal eyes trained down those nice shoulder muscles, past the tattoo on his chest, over his well-endowed arms, across his abs and stomach only to see the proof of Jake’s said libido. Connor’s memory flashed back to when he say Jake that night trying to climax on his own in the Forge at his worktable fully clothed and frustrated. Connor mess with Jake’s libido? That’s got to be some joke, Jake was…

…Jake was entirely free to take what Connor had offered him several times.


	13. Entangled by a Stoll

Jake could barely sleep. He’d gotten Connor bathed and in another of his t-shirts quickly. He’d stuck the man into bed and had lied down next to help to sleep. Connor, like a child, had grumbled about not needing to be put to bed but he had fallen asleep as quickly as the last time. Jake was laying there awake with his back to Connor staring at Randall on the other bed. The boy was completely sprawled out in the huge bed alone and deep in dreamland.

Turning onto his stomach and putting his arms under his pillow Jake closed his eyes. He felt himself heating up but tried to keep the emerging memory at bay. Not that he could help it. Although he was stuffing his face into the pillow his body was hypersensitive and completely aware who was lying in bed next to him totally unaware. The man was definitely a cock tease.

The problem was that Connor wasn’t Jake’s. Michael Yew had been the one to confess. Michael Yew had been the one to steal that first kiss. Michael had been the one to make a promise to take Connor on a date. Michael Yew had been the one that Connor had wanted to cry for all those years ago. Michael had been the one that Connor did cry for as he stood in Jake’s Forge. What he’d done that night had been rape, and if not he’d taken advantage of Connor simply because he couldn’t control himself.

Connor didn’t know how much it pained to be next to him day and night like this. Watching him sleep so defensively or seductively had been torture. If Randall wasn’t there Jake would probably lose his mind. Jake felt like an obedient dog that had food in front of him but was told to wait and impatiently waited until commanded he to eat. What else could he do but lie here and wait, trying his best not to once again take advantage of a man who didn’t belong to him and didn’t really want him?

Jake just happened to be there when Connor finally broke down. Jake just happened to be the one to hide his tears. Jake just happened to be the bystander Connor chose to try those things with. To Jake, Connor had been this lively, radiant and overconfident essence when they were younger. Although he often got into trouble he had never been wading in the lake drowning without a lifeline.

Eventually Jake woke up, realizing with a start that he’d fallen asleep. He felt arms circled around his body clutching around his abs and ribs. Long legs tangled with one his own made his skin rise up in goosebumps. Another smaller body lying on his back was tapping small little fingers against his muscles like playing a piano.

“Jake, you awake?” Randall asked above him. His tiny fingers stopped tapping.

“I told you not to get close,” Jake grumbled. He didn’t want Randall catching whatever Connor had.

“Yea but earlier he woke up to go pee all on his own, so I guess he’s all better,” Randall mentioned. Jake tried not to roll his eyes and he dropped his head back on his pillow. He wanted to move but he figured the legs and arms encircling parts of his body did not belong to Randall. “Are we going to go out for breakfast soon?”

“Did you pee?”

“Yes.”

“Washed your hands and face?”

“Yes.”

“Brush your teeth?”

“Yes!”

“Combed your hair?”

“Yes!”

Jake smiled. “Changed your clothes?” He heard the excited yes just as Randall leaned against his back shoulder muscles with his whole weight. The boy really wanted to go out for a heavy breakfast. “Your underwear?” he added. Silence. “Change your underwear.”

“But-”

“I didn’t make the rules, Randall,” Jake tried not to laugh as he grumbled. He tried shifting his left leg but it was neatly encased by Connor’s legs.

“But grandma’s not even here!” Randall argued as he slipped off Jake’s back and scrambled off the bed. “Also, how come _he_ doesn’t have to do those things?” Randall pointed passionately over Jake’s back to Connor.

“His grandma probably gave up teaching him any manners,” Jake said. He turned his head and smiled at the frowning Randall who puffed his cheeks out. “That’s why he’s such a bad boy.”

“Is that why you are sleeping with him?”

Jake almost blushed the way Randall accused him. “Yes, so he won’t get you sick too.” Jake put a hand on Randall’s head. “Now go change your underwear.” Randall was strangely territorial. If something didn’t belong to him he didn’t touch it without permission, in kind he tended to lay claim to things right away. If someone tried to take something that was his without asking or telling him, Randall would almost immediately fend them off. Knowing this if Jake hadn’t made it clear that Randall was to go nowhere near Connor the boy would have spent most of his time curiously exploring the new person sharing their hotel room.

“Just so you know I don’t have a grandmother,” Connor said against Jake’s ear. Jake groaned. So he was awake as suspected.

“Pretty sure godly grandparents count,” Jake decided to reply.

Connor sat up quickly and pressed a hand down on Jake’s back. “So that makes you Hera’s grandson!” he beamed. Jake groaned again. “Hah!”

“Yeah, well our grandfather’s the same then,” Jake reminded him.

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Connor grumbled. He lied down and stared at the ceiling. Though he had untangled himself from Jake, he kept a leg curled around Jake’s left leg even now. “Most of us are related but not at the same time, so it doesn’t even matter anymore. All I know is that I didn’t have a grandmother or grandfather growing up. There was just my mom.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, there was just mom, me, and Travis.” There was a strange pause, and when Jake looked he realized Connor was elsewhere in his thoughts. When he finally came back to reality Connor simply added, “And then there was just me.”

“What do you mean?”

During the wedding and reception it hadn’t looked as though Travis and Connor had been on bad terms. He had been delirious in his sleep the last couple of days, but he always mixed Jake up for Travis or someone or other. Connor didn’t look or seem like a lonely person abandoned by the world.

“I told mom after the summer, that I also liked guys too. She said it was too hard dealing with all of this and she left,” Connor said without having to explain what "all of this" meant. Travis was with Michael Kahale, meaning he came out a long time ago and was rejected by their mother. Those were heavy words coming out of a prankster's mouth. Words Jake didn’t think Connor had meant to tell him. But Connor laughed and then he turned to Jake and grinned, “But that’s good for me too.”

“How can that be good?” Jake asked, confused. He had always felt blessed with the mother he had, but he realized that not everyone had such strong families or bonds.

“It’s better not to be attached to anything. It’s better to just keep moving,” Connor said. Then Randall burst from the bathroom and leapt onto the bed and scrambled onto Jake’s back again. Connor laughed loudly and praised Randall for his feat.

Jake knew that meant Connor no longer wanted to talk about it.

While delving on those words Jake took them out to breakfast. It was rather early, but it was worthwhile to see the way Connor heated up sitting in the dinner three blocks from the hotel. Since he refused to wear Jake's "behemoth" clothing he was stuck wearing his black suit.

"Is he a Man in Black?" Randall whispered loudly to Jake. Jake held back his laughter but the way Connor was shooting him glares told him he was somehow revealing his laughter. Connor stood up and unbutton his suit jacket, throwing it over the chair he'd been sitting on before sitting down again.

The bell hanging over the door of the diner chimed. Jake took a glance while Connor glared at the crossword of the morning newspaper. A head of brown hair blazed through the front door and towards them in the back of the diner. Travis Stoll.

"Connor!" Travis paused in front of Connor and their table. He leaned over his knees to gasp in a few breaths before standing to his full height. "Stoll!" Travis snapped next. He made to grab for a shocked Connor's neck but a huge arm wrapped itself around Travis' body and pulled him back. "Let me go Michael, I'm going to kill him!"

"Calm down," Michael grumbled tersely. Travis immediately calmed himself down, glared at Michael for the supposed order and then pushed Connor to the end of the booth to sit down. Michael looked between the side the Stolls sat in and the one Jake sat in.

"Sit down," Jake offered him. They had more space on their side anyways, so he scooted further to the end and dragged Randall along with him.

Randall had become quiet, losing all sense of excitement. He often hid what he was feeling when it came to strangers. It took time for him to get used to expressing himself in front of them. In many ways Randall wasn't just shy, he was cautious and overly sensitive. The boy openly stared at Michael who was bigger and taller than Jake. He then recalled that Randall had spent time with Ernest and Alethea, the two Apollo children who were close friends due to their guardians' shared relationships.

“Hello little one,” Michael smiled down warmly at Randall. Randall turned towards Jake and buried his face into the crevice of Jake’s arm. Michael raised a brow to Jake at the seemingly frightened demeanor.

Jake wasn’t sure how to answer specifically. Randall wasn’t painfully shy towards new people.

“Tell me where you have been, little brother,” he heard Travis growl under his breath. Travis was in the middle of wringing his brother’s neck when a waitress came by to check on their new guests. Michael politely smiled, effectively attracting the girl, and asked for the morning special for both him and Travis. Jake wasn’t sure how Michael simply could order for Travis. Then again Michael was rather assertive and probably knew what Travis liked to eat.

Struggling with his brother’s hold Connor flailed dramatically and then the table shook. Jake held back a howl as Connor kicked him under the table. He lurched over the table barely able to bear it as he glared at Connor and Travis who both paused in their antics.

“There is a child here,” Jake mentioned. It was fortunate that he had been the one that had been kicked and not Randall. “Behave yourselves,” he said through his teeth as he held back the pain. When it finally subsided he sat up straight again.

“Sorry,” Travis blushed as he straightened his ruffled flannel shirt.

“Why are you wearing your suit?” Michael asked. Jake held back his laughter by turning to look out the window. Covering his smile by scratching at his stubble Jake glanced at Connor who glared at him again.

* * *

 

Connor kicked Jake on purpose this time. When he made contact Jake had turned from the window and grabbed his ankle, holding his outstretched leg against his thigh. Pretending as though he was not doing anything Jake kept silent and observed the way Michael and Travis interacted. Connor felt himself turning red as his brother uncharacteristically lectured him.

Michael Kahale was staring between him and Jake knowingly before turning to Travis sitting across from him. _“Travis, let him talk,”_ Michael said softly in French. Connor wanted to punch Michael in the face. Stabbing him sounded about-

Connor’s knee jerked up and hit the table, nearly tipping it again if Michael and Jake hadn’t put a hand down to level it. He tried to jerk back his leg but Jake’s hand tightened as his fingers crept up his calf. If Jake didn’t stop Connor was liable to get a boner in front of his brother AND Randall.

“So Connor?” Travis nudged him. Travis leaned towards him and whispered to him in German to stop playing footsy with Jake. Connor felt his face flush even more as Jake’s hand wrapped around his knee and pressed his leg even closer to Jake’s own.

He hated that look in Jake’s eyes. That spark in his gaze was mischievous and teasing. Connor wanted to kick him again but he felt that if he used his other leg Jake would grab on to it too.

Travis cleared his throat. Feeling wholly embarrassed at this point Connor tried to plead with Jake silently. Jake stared at him without an expression but his eyes flared.

Desperate Connor took in a sharp breath and closed his eyes to try and concentrate. Jake’s hand pulled his leg and moved from his knee towards his thigh. “I was with Jake, I think…” Connor didn’t remember most of the past couple days but from what he could guess he was mostly asleep in Jake’s hotel room.

“With Jake?” Travis looked at Jake.

Jake pulled his hand away finally. “He was sick,” Jake said as the waitress brought them glasses of water and Randall’s orange juice. “Feverish and drunk.”

“I wasn’t drunk,” Connor denied, even though he still felt out of it. Connor sighed, hoping it would calm him down but he still felt shaky from Jake’s touch.

Jake looked at Travis with a stern expression. “He couldn’t find his keycard and mistook my room.”

“The card’s not in my suit,” Connor said as he patted himself down. Travis rolled his eyes. “I know the card was in my jacket pocket.” 

* * *

 

Jake observed Michael pull out a keycard and held it out to Connor. “Travis swiped your card.” Connor turned to his brother and stared at him with an attitude that said too much. The interaction between the brothers was intimate and yet closed off. Jake remembered earlier in the morning when Connor had commented it was best to be alone, but he could barely imagine Travis and Connor being truly indifferent to one another.

“405,” Randall whispered as he peered at the keycard Michael held out. Jake knew what the significant of Room 405 meant and why Randall had spoken up by seeing it. Room 405 was the room next door.

“We’re room 403,” Jake remarked.

“So you couldn’t just walk yourself to our room?” Travis turned to Connor. Connor glared down his brother but Travis’ steady gaze never changed.

“I mostly woke up and fell asleep the past few days so I’m not sure I was cognizant enough to find out which room or whose room I was in,” Connor gritted his teeth at Travis. “And by the way you took my keycard so Jake couldn’t find out where I was supposed to be.”

“Con, where’s your cell phone?” Travis asked then.

“Trav,” Connor mimicked his brother’s sweet tone and short-name endearment, “My phone drowned in the cold water when I had to swim to shore.” Travis rolled his eyes and then turned to stare at Michael.

Seeing the uncertainty and anxiety Connor was trying to hide, Jake decided to leisurely stretch out his legs. His right leg stretched out between Connor’s calves and his left leg on the outside of Connor’s right leg. He crossed his ankles and encased Connor’s leg inside his. Connor jerked and stared at him before hiding his shock by looking at his glass of water.

Jake looked at Travis and asked, _“Travis aha koe i tango i keycard o tou teina?”_ Travis stared at Jake confused and then stared at Michael. Michael smiled and shrugged and then Jake turned to Connor. _“Connor e matau koutou te mea ahau tamata ahau ki te mea?”_

He shyly nodded but then shook his head. Jake then spoke again and said as eloquently in the bits of Maori he remembered learning in college, _“Don’t push your brother away.”_ Biting his lip in frustration Connor obediently nodded. “Good boy,” he smiled, tightening is legs around Connor reassuringly.

“I’m not a child,” Connor puffed indignantly.

“If you say so.”

Breakfast came so they all sat silently and ate. Randall excitedly ravished his breakfast, glaring angrily whenever Michael’s hand looked like it was coming to close to anything that he claimed as his food. Michael took note of that but it seemed out of curiosity and humor he would purposely “accidentally” move his hand too close. Once, Randall growled deep in his chest.

Jake was eating when he noticed the way Connor watched his hands. When Connor’s eyes followed his fork bringing the food to his mouth he realized Connor was engrossed in the way he ate. He purposely let the syrup touch his lips and slowly licked it off his lips with his tongue. Connor swallowed hard before bashfully turning to watch his brother eat his food.

Jake also noticed the way Michael and Travis interacted. Travis frowned over the crispy bacon and scrambled eggs. He ate the hash browns with quick a bit of ketchup but stared at the waffles in a begrudging way. Finally Michael reached over and poked his fork into one of the waffles and brought it onto his plate. Then Michael gave Travis his sausages before going into the waffles.

“Here,” Connor gave Travis one of his fluffy buttermilk pancakes. Connor picked up the crispy bacons from Travis’ plate and bit into one of them.

A tug at his elbow told Jake what Randall wanted. “Randall?” Jake turned to his son and stared down at him. Randall stared up at him. Jake suppressed a smile. “Finish your fruits first.” Randall grabbed his bowl of fruit and started stuffing them in his mouth. Jake chuckled, grabbing Randall’s cup of apple juice just before he started coughing. Patting Randall’s back he lowered the cup to Randall and held the straw to his lips.

“Slowly,” Jake soothed him. He rubbed Randall’s back until he calmed down.

“All done!” Randall beamed up at him.

“Good job,” Jake smiled. He held out his fist and fist bumped with Randall. “Just one, okay?”

Frowning Randall furrowed his brow. “Three.”

“Two.”

“Okay,” Randall sighed.

Jake shook his head as he picked up a sausage and a half of a pancake he hasn’t eaten yet. Setting the pieces onto Randall’s plate Jake turned back to eat his own breakfast.

“Whoa,” he heard the Stolls both echo.

Jake stared at them and they stared back, curiously. He remembered that look. It was that look that had everyone tiptoeing around the Stoll brothers. It meant they were looking for fun.

“Jake in daddy mode is pretty hot,” Connor said, staring at Jake but speaking to Travis.

“Uhhm, he reminds me of Michael when he’s with Ernest,” Travis nodded with agreement.

“Single dad types are a turn on,” Connor grinned. His dimples showed and Jake knew he was really smiling when he said it.

“Ah…” Michael sounded in as he turned to Jake and Jake looked to him. They both stared at each other and knew what the other wanted to say to each other.

_They were the Stoll brothers’ type._

And then legs suddenly encased his left leg under the table. It was how Jake knew that Connor was reassuring Jake that he and his brother were as they’ve always been. Together.


	14. My Family

“He has to go?” the boy named Randall tugged at Jake’s hand. He seemed disappointed but mostly as though he would be bored. Connor did not like the idea that he was some new toy for this kid. “He’s not coming home with us?”

“What do you mean?” Jake asked, apparently with no clue why the boy expected Connor to be returning with them. It did come out as though the boy thought the very notion was a natural order of things.

Randall frowned as if he suddenly realized that it wasn’t normal to think this way. He contemplated to himself for a second then nodded to himself, “Okay,” this time like he had accepted that he was not bringing home Connor. The boy walked to his bed by the window, struggled to climb into it, and sat down. “Jake,” the boy glumly said. The boy’s expression was still one of stern and frozen frustration. He seemed to be fighting between not frowning and not pouting. It was quite the endeavor for someone who was between Alethea and Ernest’s age.

Curiously, Connor asked, “How old is Randall?” He had meant to ask Jake but the boy proudly exclaimed he was seven years old just like Ernest Malek El-Min. Connor almost laughed and asked why he’d called Ernest by the name the boy insisted on, but decided against it.

Decisively frowning, Randall grumbled with his tiny arms crossed over his chest, “Thea is 10 years old.” Connor eyed Jake who only smiled at him in return. “How come she gets to be 10?” Connor nearly bellowed but again managed to school his expression.

Jake gingerly knelt at the edge of the bed and leveled his gaze on Randall. “Well, how far away is 10 from seven?”

Randall immediately started counting fingers. “7… 8… 9… 10…” Randall counted and frowned again. He stared at his fingers where he counted seven and where ten was. “4?” he asked uncertainly.

“No, remember,” Jake said in a soothing and calm voice. Connor found himself sitting on Jake’s hotel bed, entranced by the man’s voice. He was only staring at Jake’s fully clothed broad back now but he was definitely imagining that naked back with the glow in the dark tattoo. Remembering there was a child in front of him Connor snapped himself out of it and paid attention to Jake’s patient explanation of subtraction. “If you start at seven,” Jake was pointing to the finger Randall had indicated as his seventh finger, “When you count how far away another number is you don’t count where you start.”

“Oh…” Randall whispered. He immediately frowned again and tried counting to himself one more time. Randall looked a lot like Jake when he frowned and glowered. “Three?” Randall asked this time. Jake nodded and might have smiled at Randall because the boy beamed. “Wait…” Randall went from an overly-excited to overly-fixated expression once more. “That means Alethea is 3 years older than me.” This time Connor couldn’t hold back a chuckle. The boy just wouldn’t let up.

“Sort of.”

“A man should always be certain,” Randall said in an unwavering and confident tone. Connor stifled his laughter. He couldn’t watch this anymore. It was just gushing with ridiculousness, and the boy was doing this in all seriousness.

With a sigh Jake asked, “Pops tell you that?” Randall nodded. Jake sighed again, this time as if he was giving up. “Alright. Randy…” Jake said in a quiet but indulging tone. Randall’s eyebrows shot up and he leaned forward where he sat. Connor stopped nearly erupting in laughter as the mood changed. The tone might have been indulging but Jake’s intent was not.

Squaring his gaze with the boy Jake put him to question. “Just because Alethea is 3 whole years older than you does not mean she is any less different, right? You still like her, right?”

“Yes.”

With a single and definitive nod Jake then inquired, “Then why does it matter whether she’s a girl, if she’s ten years old and you’re seven, if Ernest is darker, you’re lighter and Alethea has blue and brown eyes?” With each bombardment of questions Randall’s eyes opened wider and his mouth slowly opened into an astonished O-shaped chasm. “Randy, if she’s your friend and you trust her then that’s all that matters in the whole wide world, isn’t that so?”

Randall took a time to collect himself just as Connor did. He snapped out of his stupor and nodded definitively just as Jake had done. “Yes.”

“Good.”

Jake was getting up when Randall asked, “How old are you, Jake?”

Jake paused. He turned around with a very serious look on his face. Connor had seen that look before. It was only whenever Jake looked at something he couldn’t figure out, and when he was sexually frustrated. This time it looked as if Jake was trying to figure out how to hide something. Jake’s posture screamed out like he’d just caught a baby strapped to a bomb vest. The ironic thing was that Jake probably would rather handle the baby and bomb in this very instance.

“I’m 24,” Jake hollowly answered.

Connor noted the way Jake was cautiously staring at Randall. The way his eyes moved along with Randall’s ticking fingers as he counted. Without realizing Connor was holding his breath as well.

“Wow, you’re old!” Randall exclaimed. “You’re older than Althea’s big brother!” The boy actually sounded impressed by it. Connor almost couldn’t help himself but he choked his laughter.

It was noticeably quiet as Randall waited for a response from Jake. Jake looked like he didn’t want to face Randall at all.

“Jake?” Connor stood up off the bed and took a step towards the man.

“Yea, I am,” Jake finally responded but it was so weak a tone it worried Connor. “I am older than Will.” Jake forced a smile and turned around. He walked towards the hotel door, hiding himself between the bathroom door and the door into the hotel hallway.

Connor quickly followed him. “Hey,” Connor softly spoke as he reached the man. Before he realized he did he had put a hand on Jake’s shoulder and squeezed it. “It’s okay.”

“No…” Jake shook his head.

“What’s wrong?”

Jake was silent where he leaned his back on the wall. His hands were fists on his knees as he leaned forward off the wall. Every muscle on his visible body was tensing. Even his veins were noticeably popping out. Jake must have rather died with that baby and bomb than face Randall’s question concerning his age.

“What’s wrong with being twenty-four?” Connor asked. “I mean, I get you two have got like a seventeen years age gap but Ernest and Mike-” he never finished.

Jake grabbed Connor’s hand on his shoulder and pulled him closer, kissing him roughly. They stood in that small crevice of the hotel room kissing for what felt like hours. It might have only been mere minutes. Jake was still holding onto Connor’s wrist, keeping him at a close distant.

“Well, that explained a lot,” Connor sarcastically mumbled under his breath. Not that he didn’t enjoy the kiss but he also knew it hadn’t been done entirely out of passion. Jake had needed that kiss as a way to gather his own strength and confidence. In other words, that kiss had been to stall for time. It felt just a bit degrading but Connor ignored it.

“I was seventeen when he was born,” Jake said quietly. So quietly Connor hadn’t been sure he caught on to Jake’s meaning. Connor was still trying to recollect his scattered thoughts. He stared at the other man blankly. Jake slowly looked up at Connor. “My mom’s never loved anyone else but my dad,” Jake confirmed the silent question. Randall was not his brother.

“Then Randall is…”

“I was sixteen and she was a city girl who visited town.” Jake had eyes that looked like he was desperately searching for someone to save him, but with a body that looked like he wanted to push everyone away. “She was older but not that much older, and we…” Jake sighed and took a deep breath in. His all expressing eyes turned on Connor then.

Connor took a small step forward and leaned in, kissing Jake. He pressed the man against the wall and kissed him gently. They slowly nipped at each other, lips locking and barely touching, even nuzzling one another, but there was no tongue and no dominant power-hungry action. The kisses were meant to be soothing and healing, something Connor had never thought kisses could be. Still, he knew that Jake was better at understanding and conveying his intentions and feelings physically. Words were only half the battle for this man.

For a while longer they just stood there, close to one another, hiding from an unsuspecting child, kissing each other softly.

The way Jake was looking at him as they kissed and pressed against one another was the way Jake looked at his pieces of works in the Forge. Connor remembered from the nights he sat in the Forge sobbing and speaking nonsense in Jake's general direction. He always looked as if he wasn’t paying attention, completely focused on his pieces of works, pounding his hammer away and assessing his works for imperfections. Now that look was on him and it was like the soft kisses Jake showered on him was Jake’s way of smoothing away the imperfections and hard edges from Connor.

“You claimed him,” Connor whispered against Jake’s soft lips.

“He’s mine,” Jake answered possessively. Connor knew that tone, he knew the way Jake’s muscles tensed, the way his eyes burned… Randall might not be Jake’s blood but he was Jake’s. It was the same way Michael looked when he said Travis was his. The man was willing to die to prove it.

“He definitely is,” Connor decided to reply. Gods only know what or who his real father was. Connor would pick someone who was there over a voice in his head any day.

There was an eerie quietness that made Connor want to shudder. Something bad was coming. It was like his instincts were telling him to run away before a storm came.

And a storm did come.

“But you are not.”

A sword had run his through. He felt himself bleed, spilling the contents of his stomachs and guts on the floor. Connor felt his knees give out as he pushed away from Jake. The man’s eyes looked like the eyes of a conflicted traitor.

Somehow he managed to learn against the opposite wall. Just barely. It was hard to breathe and then he suddenly wasn’t even breathing.

Connor felt the imaginary sword being yanked out of his unwounded stomach. The pain was still there, the bleeding still ran hot and bloody. The words being mouthed on those once sweet lips mouthed a strangled apology Connor couldn’t hear. There was a ringing in his ears as though he’d gone deaf. He couldn’t hear when he’d bumped into the opposite wall, or the pitter patter of Randall running towards them hidden at the door. Connor spared a glance at the little boy who innocently stared up at him the way Alethea first did when she saw him get wounded during their quest. Just like Alethea the boy had no idea what was really going on, but he knew blood and he knew the expression of pain. Pain that Connor could not mask.

It was a pain that Connor didn’t know until now. His heart wasn’t hurting. Not like it had when he’d cried for Michael Yew, not the way it hurt when he thought of being separated from his brother forever. It was still and motionless. So still Connor felt the heat and ability to feel anything leave his body through that imaginary open wound.

Jake had an expression on his face Connor recalled on another such person. Luke Castellan had made the face to Annabeth, and Connor knew that expression because Annabeth showed the same one whenever she thought of Luke’s betrayal. The mirror expression of self-loath between the traitor and the one who had been betrayed.

Randall walked towards Connor in concern, the same way Alethea did once before. Only Connor didn’t have the heart to lie to the boy. Connor refused to cry. He refused to feel hurt. He refused all of this.

Telling himself not to feel anything he reinforced his will. Squaring his shoulder as he grabbed for the door knob and avoided Randall’s grasp he spoke words he couldn’t hear, “Thank you for indulging in me.” And he left. He didn’t look back. He wouldn’t look back.

It hurt to look. As he walked down the hall to the next door he kept his eyes closed tightly. Instead he slid his hand against the wall to feel out for his brother’s hotel room door when it came into space. The feeling of the dry paper was a dull feeling to him. He could barely feel the touch on his fingertips. It was like touching cold ice.

Eventually warmth wrapped themselves around his sensationless fingers. He felt warm hands grab his probing fingers. He knew those fingers. His brother pulled him quickly into a hug and held him tightly. Another set of arms wrapped around him and his brother’s embrace. He was pulled from a bland, dark world without sensation and feelings into a cocoon of warmth and safety.

In the dark of his tightly closed eyes Connor heard his first words since Jake’s words to him. “You are not alone,” Michael’s deep voice breathed life into his ears. The words rung through his body, waking all the feelings and emotions that had recently shut themselves off. Connor gasped loudly and refused to open his eyes as the tears breached him. He held on tightly to the only family he had in the world and refused to believe in anything else. Including in Jake.


	15. Yes Randall?

The months passed slowly and painfully for Jake. He tried to show a bright side when he was with Randall but when he was in his own thoughts, which he normally liked doing, Jake went back to the time he crushed the light from Connor’s eyes. It shook him to the core and Jake couldn’t imagine a pain that hurt more than feeling the sharp cut that shredded the very being of him when he realized what he’d done. Jake couldn’t and wouldn’t take his words back either. Connor couldn’t be his. 

Randall had been ecstatic to make new friends, friends who didn’t look at him weird when he couldn’t understand what mothers did. Although his demigod friend Ernest had grown up with two parents, he seemed to be distant when it came to talking about them. Randall had mentioned that Ernest was fiercely proud of the man he called his father, and of Michael Kahale’s existence in his life, but that he rarely had anything to say about his mother. Alethea Yang, Will Solace’s half sister, had grown up with only her mother and always had something to say about her.  

Unlike in the movies or novels, Randall grew up perfectly fine and ignorant of the importance of a mother. Perhaps that was because he had his grandmother, and Jake dared hope because he did enough for Randall never to question the responsibilities of any parent. Maybe—and Jake suspected this was it—Randall was sharp enough to know that not all parents were alike. In the end, he had never seemed to ask Jake why he didn’t have a mom. He simply took it as fact. 

“I got a letter from Amy!” Randall exclaimed as he ran into the cluttered room downstairs that Jake used as a workshop. He quickly put down his tools and grabbed Randall, scooting the boy out of the workshop. 

“Who is Amy?” Jake asked gently, leading the boy into the kitchen as he rubbed his greasy hands on a dirty towel he produced from his tool belt. 

Randall practically skipped after him, something his usually very calm child didn’t do. He sat down on the chair at the kitchen table, knowing by routine that Jake would give him a glass of juice and a snack. Jake set the cup of apple juice down, knowing that although Randall wanted the orange juice that he already had it in the morning. 

Randall did his best to hide his discontent, letter in hand. Jake washed his hands and then waved from behind to signal Randall to come over. The boy ran up, literally jumping onto the stepping stool and reached over to wash his hands next. Jake dried his hands with the clean hand towel and then passed it over to Randall who just finished turning off the faucet. The letter was now stuck in the back pocket of his jeans. 

“Jake,” Randall grumbled quietly. 

“Yes, Randall?” 

Jake moved to open the refrigerator door and reached inside for the snack he’d prepared earlier in the morning for Randall. Grabbing silverware from the drying rack, he moved over to the kitchen table as Randall followed. 

“Jake.” 

“Yes, Randall?” 

Jake set the container on the table and sat on the chair next to Randall. Randall pulled out the letter and sat down in his chair again. For a minute he seemed to shuffle, finding the best and most comfortable position on the chair. 

“Jake?” This time Randall’s voice was soft and almost pleading. 

“Yes, Randall?” Jake answered again. He opened the container and stared at the solidified jello. Using the butter knife he’d picked up from the drying rack he cut up the jello into smaller bite size pieces for Randall. 

“Jello?” Randall asked dubiously. He had learned that when Jake or his grandmother Samantha gave him snacks, it usually meant healthy snacks like carrot sticks. No doubt Randall liked his great grandfather who usually gave him ice cream. 

“It’s good, I promise,” Jake grinned. Randall shot him a dirty look and then nodded. Jake handed him a fork so the boy can start poking at his snack. 

The boy took his first bite cautiously. His eyes widened and then attacked the jello as though he’d never had it before. Jake smiled as Randall quickly ate half of the container of jello. 

“Drink,” Jake said as he slid the cup of juice closer to Randall. The boy finished the jello in his mouth then proceeded to drink the juice. He seemed happy so Jake was glad he'd found a jello recipe that was healthy and didn't have artificial flavoring. Too bad he hadn't figured out how to shorten the sugar content out of Randall just yet, but honey was a healthy substitute he'd been trying to wean Randall into. 

Randall stopped gulping down his drink, an expression of serious contemplation outlining his features. He put down his cup, slid it out of the way and looked Jake dead in the eyes. Jake almost smiled but he quickly schooled his own expression. Randall didn't like being made to do things when he had his focus on other things, but as a small little kid with obvious ADHD it was almost impossible not to distract Randall. 

"Jake." 

"Yes, Randall?" 

"Can we move to Minnesota?" 

Jake couldn't hide his glower, and true to his own spirit Randall glowered back. There it was, his son's possessive nature. Randall had decided what was his, and he wanted it to be his. 

"Why?" 

"Because Alethea and Ernest lives there." 

If Jake recalled his short conversations with Michael Kahale and Will Solace, it was more or less true. The legal guardian for Alethea was Fern the Satyr, as he was the satyr charged with watching over and bringing Alethea to camp when necessary. When her mother past she had willed it that Fern, whom she'd grown close to, would have legal guardianship of her which would make it easier to bring her to Camp without the family fuss. Will Solace was her half-brother but had strangely made a deep connection with her on his last quest at camp. In other words she lived with Will but was legally under the care of Fern. Alethea had elected to be a summer camper, so spent most of her year living at home with Will. 

Michael Kahale was Will's work partner. Unlike what was expected, Michael was not related to Ernest in anyway. In the short time he'd spent at Salt Lake City he'd somehow taken on the role of big brother for his next door neighbor's kid, who happened to also be a demigod. At least that was the story Jake heard, that despite being related to Ernest the man had somehow found him taking on the role of a caretaker. 

Michael was currently married to Travis Stoll, and Nico di Angelo—Will's current partner—was young Ernest's current sponsor at Camp Jupiter. There had been some kind of fight over who would sponsor Ernest once he'd left Lupa's pack into Camp Jupiter. There hadn't been a struggle in sponsor placement in some time at Camp Jupiter, and Jake had been there looking for material and extra jobs during the time. In the end the Pluto family won. Meaning the relationship between Will Solace and Nico di Angelo with Michael Kahale and Travis Stoll had solidified. 

And Jake had crushed Connor's feelings and pride months ago. 

Ernest and Alethea would grow up with a strong family and friend connection. Randall had met them at Percy's wedding, but Jake hadn't expected them to become fast friends although he understood why they had. But to request that Jake make their move to Minnesota? Jake couldn't imagine it, bringing a little kid from a town in nowhere to a busy city. Yet some part of him realized the city would be more understanding of single parent households than a small town where everyone's life was regular news. 

"Ernest doesn't live there," Jake elected to answer. 

"Well he will when he's out of service," Randall pointed out. 

"Service?" 

"Service. At camp." 

Right. Jake forgot that in New Rome most everyone had to do a certain time of service, most usually through Camp Jupiter. Afterwards they could work or live in the state. They would still be called on. Almost every one of the residents in New Rome had a tattoo with their years of service on their arm. Michael Kahale's number was pretty high. Apparently his years in service had allowed him to go through the police academy while still a student and count as years in the police force. In other words, unlike Will, Michael had more years of experience as a police officer despite his age. 

It was a nice system if one thought of it that way. Something like those community K-12 schools he'd heard about.  

"How old is he again?" Jake asked, remembering that Randall had grumbled about Alethea being three years older. He hadn't heard anything about Ernest's age, so he was certain the boy was about the same age as Randall. 

"Hm..." Randall made a show of trying to recall. Jake smiled as Randall absentmindedly forked a jello cube into his mouth. "I don't know." 

"Well, he'll have about ten years before he lives with Michael then," Jake said. _If_ Ernest lived with Michael. If the service for Camp Jupiter was in anyway similar to Camp Half-Blood, that meant Ernest could—or would—be in service until he was at least eighteen. Michael had been in service to it much longer, although he wasn't exactly sure why or how that was allowed. 

Ernest would be in service until he was a legal adult, but by then he would likely move on to college or some future career plan. The chances of him deciding to move in with Michael and Travis would be one in a few dozen other choices. 

Randall pouted, visibly showing that he understood Jake was trying not to get his hopes up. It would be meaningless to move there only to have to wait ten years for them to be in the same town—or the same state. That didn't mean the little rascal liked Jake's decision to veto the suggestion. 

"You can plan visits, can't you?" Jake decided to try his best cheering Randall up. He put a hand on top of the boy's head to pat him encouragingly. Randall looked up, eyes rounding as if he only just realized, and nodded. 

Looking solemn again after a few minutes, Randall called out quietly to him. 

"Yes, Randall?" 

"Jake, Ernest told me once in a phone call..." Randall started. 

"He told you what?" 

"His dad isn't his real dad," Randall stated. 

Jake sat there stunned. He knew the question was coming as Randall looked up at him. The question Jake never wanted to answer. 

"Jake, are you my real dad?" 

The breath squeezed itself out of him. He clutched at his chest where his tattoo laid over his heart. The design he created to symbolize Randall. The tribal-stylized wolf coiled up into a circle representing the moon. Jake couldn't breathe as he stared down at Randall's sad but expectant eyes. 

The boy knew. He'd always known in some inconceivable way—the same way all demigods knew their godly parents. It was why Randall always called him "Jake" and never "father" or "dad". 

"No," he squeezed out. "I'm not your real father." He felt his heart rip apart and his stomach begin to flip over. His lungs wanted to turn themselves inside out. Jake looked away, trying now to show the pain he felt inside or the hate he felt for Randall's mother. 

Yes, he had spent his teenage years with Randall's mother. She had been a beauty, an older woman from the cities. He had been enchanted by her, so much more than he'd ever been enchanted by the Aphrodite cabin girls. He'd been foolish, knowing he should use a condom the first time he had sex with her but she had whispered convincing words to stop him. When she had gotten pregnant he didn't think twice in claiming the unborn child. The child he'd known wasn't really his. 

Randall stared at him, reaction clouded in his eyes. He scowled a moment and then nodded in acceptance of that fact.  

"Are you..." Jake tried to gauge how to best handle the situation. "Angry?" 

Randall shook his head no. 

"Sad?" 

Same answer. 

"Happy?" 

No. 

"How are you feeling then?" Jake asked. 

"I want to go see Pops," Randall responded, his expression still vacant and unreadable. Jake slowly felt pieces of him begin to crumble. He hadn’t been hoping against hope not to hear that. Only he knew what was happening was what he deserved. 

"Okay. Get your things," Jake answered softly. He stood up, put his hand on Randall's head one last time, then moved to lock his workshop and clean himself up. 

When Jake dropped Randall off his grandfather was standing out in the driveway. After getting out of the car Randall quickly ran inside the house with his backpack without a word. His grandfather's expression was as unreadable as Randall's. 

"It's not his weekend," his grandfather said gruffly as Jake approached. Jake didn't want to explain but he figured he should tell his grandfather anyways. "What did you do?" The accusation stung but Jake knew he deserved it. "And why do you look like I just stabbed you in the gut?" His grandfather then stared at him as though he couldn't understand why Jake was the way he was. 

Jake wanted to sink further away into himself and hide. It wasn't that he was ashamed, but he also just didn't feel like he deserved anything else besides pain and a lifetime of misery. It wasn't like he was into self-inflicted pain or wallowing in his own misery or some such thing. It was like a deep part of him that felt guilty and unworthy.  

"Anyways," his grandfather sighed. "I just met a friend of yours." 

"A friend of mine?" 

Who could it be? Jake didn't recall ever telling anyone where he lived or how to get there. Could be a coincidence but knowing his luck it was more like a cruel twist of fate. 

"He was wearing one of those camp shirts." 

"Hey Old Man Rand!" A rather familiar voice called out from the front door. Jake held his breath as Connor Stoll strolled out of his grandfather's house with the brightest smile to ever grace the earth. Dear Gods this was a cruel twist of fate. 

The smile quickly turned down into an immediate frown when Connor saw Jake. Jake just as quickly looked away. 

"Connor," his grandfather greeted the man. "How was the shower?" 

"Great. Thanks." 

The tone of levity had changed into a more somber kind. The mood had gone from worse case to nightmare. Jake couldn't look at his grandfather or at Connor who was now standing in front of him. He did his best to turn his face away and seem casual about it but that was just impossible. The two men were now looking at him. 

"Jake." 

"Stoll," Jake cleared his throat and responded with a quick nod. 

"Didn't think I'll find you in a small town like this," Connor said next. 

"Born and raised," Jake replied. 

"Pops!" Randall came bounding out the door. 

For a moment Connor looked between Jake's grandfather and Randall as the two greeted each other. He saw the way Connor came to a kind of conclusion and then turned back to look at Jake. He quickly turned his gaze downwards to avoid his.  

His grandfather grinned and asked Randall, "So why the surprise?" 

Randall's smile turned stern. "I have a question only you can answer. A grown up question." 

"I see." 

"But later." 

"Okay." 

Jake breathed a sigh of relief when Randall bounded for the house again after greeting Connor in passing. 

"So?" His grandfather turned to Jake this time. 

"He asked if I was his real father," Jake sighed and spoke softly. He didn't have to heart to continue the rest of the day.  

The silence hit hard, telling him his wise old grandfather had no response for even that statement. Well, what could he say anyways that would make Jake feel better? He'd done this best before that, trying in his own way to make Jake feel better about the truth he hid from Randall. 

Jake felt suffocated and he couldn't stand to be standing there anymore, not with his grandfather, not with Randall, not at the house, and definitely not with Connor in front of him. It felt harder to breathe than when drowning. Turning towards his car Jake quickly made a comment about picking up Randall tomorrow afternoon and didn't bother to respond when his grandfather made to object. Jake wanted to be in his workshop, and he wanted to be left alone.


	16. Randall's Hurt

This was fucked up.

Connor sat on the guest bed staring at his backpack set down by the door of the bedroom. He hadn’t expected that Rand Mason who he met in a bar and offered him a place to stay was related to Jake Mason. In fact he was the guy’s grandfather.

This was fucked up.

Connor sighed as he stared at his Smartphone. He should call his brother, he knew it was expected of him to call, but Connor didn’t want to. It was cowardly but he just wanted to get away. He’d been traveling for the last couple months just to run away from the hurt he felt, from the love of his brother and friends, from his own feelings. He was out of cash so when Rand had met him in a bar and offered to pay him for doing odd jobs around the house and at his shop Connor had agreed. This day and age everyone needed a resume, two references and three years of experience. Connor figured there wasn’t going to be another old guy without untoward intentions coming along anytime soon to offer him a job with room and board so easily.

He put on his jacket and then his backpack and quietly snuck out of the guestroom. Connor should leave. He was going to leave while dinner was still being prepared. Sneaking out of a house was easy, he’s done it a lot of times before without being noticed. Of course he walked by a door that was open half-way and paused when he heard the voices speaking in the room. He wasn’t trying to eavesdrop but he was eavesdropping anyway. 

* * *

 

Randall stared up at Pops as he sat on his bed in the house. He and Jake didn’t have a house of their own, although their grandmother and Pops always told Randall that their houses were Randall’s home. But Randall knew that Jake didn’t see it that way. He always paid grandmother money and he did chores for her and he almost never let her pay for anything when they went out. Whenever Randall asked Jake why he never let grandmother pay, Jake would say, “Because she’s my mom.”

Randall never understood. Jake was his dad but he never paid for anything. So when he asked Jake that very question Jake smiled at him and said, “Because you’re mine.”

“I’m not Jake’s son,” Randall said as Pops sat down on the chair in front of him. Pops stared down at him. He was a lot older than grandmother, but he was also a lot smarter than most of the people Randall knew.

Pops was quiet for a long time. Then he said, “Tell me.”

Randall knew Pops meant tell the story. Jake didn’t understand Pops a lot of times but Randall understood him.

“I asked if he was my real dad and he said no,” Randall answered. Then he thought a little harder. He felt like what he said was wrong, like when his teacher asked him a math question and he knew the answer he gave wasn’t right. It was a strange taste in his mouth but Randall couldn’t understand it. He wasn’t too good with his head the way Jake was, but he was good with his feelings. Jake always told him that.

“Anything else?”

Randall thought on it a little more.

“But why not?” Randall asked. He didn’t really understand what makes Jake his “real” and his “fake” dad. Did everyone have a fake dad and a real dad?

Pops’ face twisted up, the wrinkles in his face bending in and out. Then he relaxed when he found his answer. Randall never said it before but Pops and Jake did a lot of things the same. He had a feeling they both would be uncomfortable if he told him, but he once made grandma smile when he said it.

He couldn’t wait for Pops to answer him just yet so he rushed to explain his question. “Grandma’s not my real grandma and Pops you aren’t my real pops? If you all aren’t my real family then who is my real family? Who do I go to live with? Who do I stay with? Do I have brothers and sisters?” The questions kept coming and Randall couldn’t stop himself. It was like his entire world was falling apart, like the one time he’d gotten in trouble for punching Logan in the face and everyone yelled at him. Everyone but Jake and Pops, and now he didn’t have them.

“Randy, stop,” Pops sighed and his big warm hand was on Randall’s shoulder. Randall sighed as though he just finished telling his teacher the reason it wasn’t his fault. “We will always be your family. We love you.” Randall nodded. It was nice to hear but for some reason hearing it from Pops wasn’t the same. “Jake definitely loves you.” Randall felt like crying when he looked up at Pops.

He turned away and started to cry, and he hated that he was crying. Boys weren’t supposed to cry, his teacher said so. Pops didn’t tell him he shouldn’t cry. Pops hugged him instead.

“Why else would someone take care of you, feed you, put clothes on you, take you to school, and buy you toys and help you do your homework?” Pops asked him quietly.

Without thinking Randall answered, “Because he’s dad.”

“Oh, is that so,” Pops smiled at him, holding Randall closely to him. “I thought you said Jake wasn’t.”

“Jake said he wasn’t.”

“Just because Jake isn’t the dad who gave life to you, does not mean he isn’t your dad,” Pops said. Randall started to feel better but the tears were still burning down his cheeks. It stung, a lot. He wiped at them and scrubbed his sleeves against his wet eyes. “Because aren’t dads supposed to take care of you, and feed you, and put clothes on you, and take you to school and buy you things you want?” Randall nodded. “Doesn’t Jake do that?”

Randall frowned. He didn’t really want to agree to it. “Jake and grandma don’t let me eat anything they think is bad, like ice cream or candy. And grandma is always making me wear those funny clothes and shoes and Jake made me wear them when we went to that wedding. And Jake always gets angry when grandma buys me a new toy.” Randall couldn’t stop talking, complaining about Jake and his grandmother. Because they didn’t do everything exactly the way Pops was telling him moms and dads were supposed to be like.

Pops laughed his loud, deep laugh like when he used to chase Randall around the house. Now Pops didn’t do that, because moving to much would hurt him he’d said. Jake didn’t chase Randall around the house either, and Randall told Pops just that. Jake didn’t like running around or playing. He just sat in his workshop and hide away.

“I see,” Pops said seriously. Randall nodded back. “But he doesn’t tell you to go away, right?” Pops asked. This time the look on Pops’ face was saying he would be angry if that was true. It wasn’t and Randall didn’t like lying so he shook his head.

“He doesn’t like when I’m there, so he comes out when I come in. He always locks the door,” Randall answered.

Pops looked like he was thinking of something really hard. Randall then added, “And last time, when we went to the wedding one of Jake’s friend said he could have taken a bed in his old cabin. Because everyone there liked him and there weren’t too many people during winter that time. But Jake said no, and he was looking at me. So I think he didn’t want me around.” Randall felt hurt all over again as he said it. He cried again. “Maybe Jake doesn’t want me.”

“What are you talking about?” Pops asked as he shook Randall. “If Jake didn’t want you, he would have never taken you home from the hospital!”

“Hospital?”

“Your mom didn’t want you,” Pops answered. “And God only know about your real father.” Randall didn’t understand. When was Randall in the hospital? “When you were a baby and just born, Jake came to visit you and your mom was going to give you away.”

“Give me away?” Randall asked. He’d never thought about his mom before, or why he didn’t have one. He might have asked his grandmother a long time ago but she didn’t answer him properly. Randall had just assumed that some kids have a mom and dad and some kids didn’t. One kid had his aunt and uncle but no mom and dad at school.

Randall looked up at Pops. “My mom didn’t want me?” he asked. The hurt came back again. “Why not?”

“Because she was no good.”

Randall frowned and swiped at his tears ago. “Was I bad?” Randall asked, hiccupping. He had only hiccupped before when he swallowed his food too quickly without chewing twenty times like he was supposed to. Was hiccupping normal for when someone cried? He heard babies cry loudly, and other kids cry screaming, but Randall had never cried before himself so he didn’t really know. “Why didn’t my mom want me? Why did she give me to Jake?” Randall found himself crying out, he found he was angry and hated Jake too. But he really didn’t.

“Hush Randy, it’s okay.” Pops was warming him up in his big arms again but Randall didn’t want it. He pushed away and scrambled onto the other side of the bed.

“No!” Randall cried. “I hate you! I hate Jake! You’re liars!” Why did his mom throw him away? Why did Jake pretend to be his dad? Randall couldn’t understand.

Pops stood up and he tried to walk to Randall. Randall grabbed the action figure on the table by his bed and threw it at Pops. He wasn’t thinking, he was angry and scared. The action figure flew across the bed and hit Pops right under his eye. Randall paused. He felt hurt again, and he didn’t understand why at all. Pops had bought him that action figure.

He got angry again. Randall picked up the book on the table next, it was called _the Giving Tree_. Jake had bought him that book and he left it over the last time he came here. Randall threw it next at Pops who was busy checking the blood from the scratch under his eye.

Someone grabbed the book while it was in the air, pulling it away from hitting Pops too. The man Randall met at the wedding who stayed in their hotel room was standing just next to Pops and he looked really angry.

“Hades, and I thought Alethea was a spoiled brat,” the man named Connor yelled. Randall flinched, moving away. Before Randall picked something else from the table to throw the man yelled angrily, “If you try and throw something else at me I will spank you!” Randall stopped and stared at the man. Was he going to hit him? Randall didn’t want to be hit. He didn’t mind fighting other kids, but he didn’t think he could fight a big person.

“Leave me alone!” Randall yelled back because he didn’t want to be spanked. He knew spanking was when big people hit kids, because the kids at school once hid underneath the slide and told a teacher while crying. Randall didn’t understand so he just pretended he was building his sand castle in the playground as he listened.

“No!” Connor yelled again. His voice was loud and angry and Randall was scared of him. The man walked over at him and Randall moved away until he was in the corner of the room.

“No!” Randall cried as Connor grabbed him.

* * *

 

Connor picked Randall up once the kid was stuck in the far corner of the room. He hugged Randall against his chest and held the kid there until he realized Connor wasn’t going to hit him. Old man Rand stood just as shocked having thought Connor would hit Randall. Connor might’ve if Randall hadn’t stopped acting out.

Randall relaxed against Connor when he realized he wasn’t going to get spanked, and he started to cry. The boy cried silently, sniffing and whimpering, shaking against Connor and wrapping his tiny arms around Connor’s neck tightly. The boy was awkward in the way he cried, as though he wasn’t sure if he should let his tears be, or if it was okay to wipe them away, or what he should do. It was as if Jake had never comforted the boy as he cried before.

Connor found he couldn’t be too angry at the parenting of this child. He knew Jake wasn’t the real father, but he also knew from just the way Jake looked at Randall, that Randall was his. Jake loved him. Connor felt a pang in his chest at the thought of that knowledge. Jake didn’t love Connor. He’d made that very clear when they had been on the subject of Randall’s parentage the last time.

Jake had also look very hurt and lost when he dropped Randall off earlier.

“Randall…” Rand approached and tried to take Randall in his arms but the boy whimpered and pulled away. He clutched tightly to Connor, apparently preferring the arms of a stranger at the moment.

“Let me handle this,” Connor assured the old man. He watch Rand leave the door just ajar as he walked away.

Once Connor was sure Randall had calmed down some he put the boy down on his bed. He found a quilt in the boy’s closet and pulled it out, wrapping the little kid in the softness of the quilt. Randall seemed confused with what he was doing and his big eyes stare up at Connor questioningly.

Connor braved a smile for the boy. He was used to smiling during the worst case but he understood the feeling of abandonment the boy felt. Once a long time ago he’d felt the same hurt and anger but he had also been older than Randall had been at the time.

“It’s good to curl up when you’re crying.”

Randall didn’t seem to believe him but he nodded anyways. Connor could imagine the way Randall was storing that information in his brain, as though he was systematically memorizing everything.

Connor pulled his backpack from the floor over to the chair he was sitting on. It was the one that Rand had been sitting on earlier by the bed. He pulled his water bottle out of the backpack and opened it to give Randall a drink. The boy drank half the bottle as though he hadn’t had water in three days then gave it back to Connor with a prompt thank you.

“So,” Connor cleared his throat as he put the water bottle back in his bag. “Why are you angry?” Connor asked.

The boy must not have expected that so he stared at Connor shocked. Connor simply waited. Jake seemed to handle Randall in a straightforward manner so Connor figured the best way to handle the situation would be the same.

“I don’t know,” Randall answered. He looked like he was going to cry again but Randall quickly steeled that expression into his very serious and solemn expression. Connor had to admit the expression was cute. It wasn’t everyday you see a little boy struggling to understand the adult world and fighting to keep up with it. It was also sad to think about. A child should be allowed to be a child, and that was something Alethea was blessed with because Will worked so hard to keep the evils of the world at bay for her.

Randall clutched the quilt around himself, making himself look like a deformed blue marshmallow. “Why did my mom leave me? Why did she give me to Jake? Why isn’t Jake my real dad? Why can’t he be? Pops said they love me but… I don’t understand. Why?”

Connor patted the boy on the head. “Come here,” Connor held open his eyes. The boy stared at him, and then understanding, he crawled from the bed and out of the quilt into Connor’s lap. He hugged the boy tightly. “How does this feel?”

“Warm.”

“And?”

“Good.”

Connor nodded as Randall stared up at him, tears drying at the corners of his eyes. “Exactly. And what about when Jake or your Pops hug you?”

Randall thought hard on it. Connor thought it was cute that he made such a serious expression when he thought so hard on something. Ernest made the same expression, and Alethea made an even fiercer expression when she did it.

“Happy,” Randall said.

“That’s because they truly love you,” Connor explained. Randall cocked his head to the side. Connor felt a smile pull at his lips again. Randall had the strangest behavior patterns. Sometimes he acted like he was running on the instincts of an animal, and other times he acted like a kid in a big adult world.

Connor tried to explain further, “Hugs are how you communicate your feelings of love to someone.” Randall did that thing again, where his eyes sort of zone out and sharpen at the same time and he once again was storing information away in his mind. This kid was going to be scary once he got older.

“So…” Randall seemed to have made his conclusion. “Jake does love me?”

“Yes.”

“Because his hugs are warm and make me happy?” Randall asked.

Connor smiled. “Well, you love him too don’t you? That’s why you’re happy when he hugs you.” Connor grinned cheekily when Randall’s face turned red from embarrassment. This must be the first time the kid felt embarrassed also, because he looked really angry that he couldn’t look Connor in the face.

“And you?” Randall looked up and asked him.

Connor hugged Randall tightly one more time. “I care for you.” Randall seemed to understand that they didn’t know each other enough to have a lot of feelings for one another.

“But why did my mom leave?” Randall asked against Connor’s shoulder.

Frowning he pulled Randall down on his lap again to look at the boy properly. “Because your mom couldn’t have you,” Connor decided to say. Randall didn’t seem to understand. “Who your mom was… where she wanted to go and who she wanted to be with, meant that she couldn’t have you with her so she left you.” Connor waited as Randall took in the information. He asked Connor to explain what he meant. “Even if she had taken you with her, as you got older and as she went on, the government or the police would have taken you away from her. Then would have been in foster care, living with strangers who get money to feed you and put clothes on you and take you to school.”

“Get money?” Randall looked confused. Connor knew then that Randall was starting to understand what kind of life he would have had if his mother hadn’t made Jake his legal father on the birth certificate. “You mean they get paid to be a mom and dad?”

“Something like that,” Connor said, “but not all of them are good mom or dad. They just do it to get the money to use themselves.”

“Aren’t they supposed to?”

“No. They money is meant for them to take care of you.”

“Oh.” Randall thought about his situation again as he once again inputted the information into his mind. “But Jake doesn’t get money. He has to work to take care of me and buy stuff. He works even when he’s not working.”

“I can see that,” Connor chuckled.

“So why doesn’t Jake get money to take care of me?” Randall asked.

“Because your mom told the hospital you were his real son,” Connor explained. Randall started to ask him for clarification, but Connor beat him to it. “So the police and the government won’t give him money to take care of you unless he really needs it. Like if he doesn’t make enough at his job or if he can’t pay rent.”

“Oh.”

“So, any other questions?” Connor asked.

“Lots!” Randall beamed. He was smiling in his eyes but his lips were frowning. The boy was enjoying having someone else in his life to ask his questions to, but he wasn’t exactly glad about the questions he had to ask.

“How about after dinner?” Connor suggested.

Randall looked away, sadness clouding his expression again. The boy looked ready to cry. Connor sighed. Until he fully understood everything about why he was with the Mason family he didn’t want to pretend to be with them.

“Alright then, let’s go tell your Pops we are going out for dinner tonight. Then we can talk as we walk back home,” Connor suggested.

“Yay!” Randall leapt up onto Connor’s lap and thrust himself into a tight hug against Connor.

It looked like Connor wasn’t about to be running anywhere.  


	17. Family Pizza

Connor knew he’d been played when he took the kid out to the local pizzeria. He also felt out of place. It was a small town and not everyone knew them, but it was obvious that some people did. Randall had waved back at a kid sitting at one of the booths in the back. It might be a better idea for him to get their pizza to go, but Randall had insisted they eat inside because when he came here he always ate inside.

So when the teenage girl walked up to hand them their menus at their booth Connor panicked as she greeted Randall. Randall just nodded at her, apparently not wanting to talk even though she chatted on and on about the last time she saw Jake and Randall here last week.

“Where’s your dad?” she asked.

“He’s got the night off,” Connor grinned, quickly trying to find an excuse that would make sense. Small towns were scary in that rumors spread like wildfire.

“Night off?” the girl asked confused.

“Even dads need time to relax,” Connor faked a teasing laugh.

“Oh!” the girl brightened up with understanding. “Are you babysitting? You should let him know if he ever wants me to I can help babysit!” the girl beamed. Connor flicked his eyes quickly to her name tag.

“Thank you, um…” Connor tried to pretend he didn’t know her name even though it was on her nametag.

“Casey. I’m Casey Adams!”

“Right, Casey,” Connor nodded and smiled at her. “I’ll let him know you offered.”

“I’ll come back for your orders,” she waved before hurrying off to take another table’s orders.

Connor turned to Randall who was trying to read the menu. “So, let’s get a salad,” Connor suggested. The boy quickly frowned. “And then let’s have this supreme pizza,” Connor pointed at the picture. Randall grinned. There were a lot of vegetables on it but also sausages and pepperoni so it was a good balance. Hopefully. Connor wasn’t sure exactly how Jake preferred to feed his kid.

“I want orange juice!” Randall announced.

Connor shook his head. “Sure, if they have it.” They talked back a forth, Connor asking Randall if he’d ever tried anything else on the menu. He told him stories about when Jake took him out to eat. Then he would also hint towards ice cream for dessert, although that was usually mentioned when he talked about Rand bringing him out to eat pizza. The cheekily little punk knew exactly just how to squeeze benefits out of a bad situation.

He wasn’t half bad at conning.

Casey came back to take their order and also asked if they were going to have desert. When Connor looked over at Randall the boy was furiously shaking his head no. The girl smiled, told them she’ll come back with their order and strut off. It might’ve been his imagination but he was pretty sure she was swaying her hips a bit more and standing a little differently to show off her breasts. The girl also had an extra button unfastened down her checkered shirt. She was a tiny slip of a thing and cute but that kind of display was dangerous for someone her age.

Connor glanced around quickly to see who she might be posturing for but found no one of great interest. There were three families out having dinner, and it was a Friday night so the pizzeriawas a bit crowded. There were some pods of friends but they seemed at least ten years the girl's age. There was a both of teenagers in the back of the store but it was a study group and they wereoutside of the teenager's waiting section in front.

"She likes you," Randall said.

"What?" Connor asked, confused.

"Casey, she's seventeen—my nanasaid she's almost eighteen and that means she's almost a woman," Randall said as he was busy staring into his cool glass of water.

"Okay...?"

Randall went on, transfixed by his own reflection in the drinking glass. "And that means she can get married. And she really likes Jake, but Jake never looks at her. That's what nanasays." Connor had a bad feeling about this conversation, considering what conversation they were having earlier. "Nana says Jake should get me a mom or I'll be lonely."

Connor wasn't sure if his mouth was open in shock, but it should be considering what the kid just told him. He wasn't sure who Nana was but he was certain that telling a kid he would be lonely without a mother was not a very good thing to do.

Casey came back with their drinks and without looking at her Connor thanked the girl. He was still staring at Randall and he was completely bewildered. What kind of crazy small town cult did Jake live in? An eighteen-year-old girl should get married?

Casey the waitress walked away again and Connor finally found words to ask the kid. "And do you want her to marry Jake?"

"No," Randall answered softly. "She likes you now, so Jake shouldn't marry her." That was a matter-fact way of looking at things. And Connor wasn't entirely sure the girl was into him. He turned to watch the girl serving a table with a family. The father was staring down her chest because of her opened button, the mother had caught on to it and was frowning, while the son and daughter were busy playing on their phones or game.

"I don't think she does," Connor said as he turned back to Randall. At least it seemed the girl might want something from Connor but it definitely was not marriage.

"You never know," Randall shrugged sagely.

"Drink your juice," Connor grumbled. He should have run away when he had the chance.

Connor ate four slices of pizzas and grinned as Randall stuffed himself full of two big slices. The boy could eat, and he exhibited the same clean and deliberated movements of eating that Jake had. Where Connor and most others ate pizza using their hands, Randall slowly cut up the pizza into smaller bite size pieces before using forking the pizza into his mouth. Connor couldn’t understand the systematic way of eating but he could tell it was ingrained into both father and son.

“More juice?” the waitress Casey came by and asked sweetly. Connor could now feel the intended advances rolling off her. He wasn’t a slow man to advances like Travis, and he wasn’t blind like Will either. He knew she wanted someone to take her, Connor was damn sure it wasn’t going to be him however. She might almost be eighteen, but she wasn’t yet eighteen.

“Yes please,” Randall answered solemnly. He seemed to avoid looking at the girl for some reason. So when she moved out of earshot Connor leaned forward towards the boy and asked the obvious question. Why? Randall just blinked up at him in confusion. “Look at her?”

“Yes, why not?”

Connor was a curious little fellow. He’d always been. He also liked seeing how things panned out. While Travis could play the long game the same way one might travel to navigate themselves safely out on the sea, Connor was the type to grab a boat ad row himself out to sea with nothing but a fishing pole and a sack of supplies.

Randall cocked his head at Connor then. “Why would I?”

“It’s polite.”

Considering the way Randall ate or spoke, and the fact that Old Man Rand had no idea how to handle Randall earlier, it was fairly obvious the boy was usually very biddable and polite. He’d been raised to learn good manners and it was odd that he wouldn’t look at another person when they talked to him.

“I see…” Randall did that thing where he stored information for later in his mind. Connor didn’t spend a ton of time with kids, but he did spend time with Alethea and Ernest. As far as his experience with children went, Alethea was the intuitive type while Ernest was the methodical. It was a little strange to see that it crashed so haphazardly in Randall’s case.

“So why is it that you don’t?” Connor whispered loudly to Randall.

Randall shrugged. His expression told Connor he was really trying to understand why he didn’t but he couldn’t. It seemed he was following it by instinct.

“She’s not…” Randall struggled to explain and frowned. Luckily he didn’t continue to say anything, instead reaching for his glass of orange juice and drinking out of the straw as Casey walked by with empty glasses of drinks from another table.

Randall started blowing bubbles into his orange juice as he thought. Connor burst into laughter. For a child taking a question very seriously he was definitely throwing it all off by blowing bubbles into his drink. Everyone in the pizzeria must’ve been looking at him strangely as he laughed but Connor couldn’t help himself.

“What’s funny?” Randall asked him then.

“Nothing.”

“Oh, okay.”

Randall stared out into the crowd again. “I wonder what Jake’s doing.”

Connor’s levity died down. He wondered how Jake felt, all along trying to figure out exactly what Randall felt about the situation. Then he wondered what Jake had told Randall exactly, or if all he told Randall was that they weren’t biological father and son. He wonder if Jake was feeling like his soul was being drained and all life was drowning out of him as he waited for Randall’s reaction. It would be nice if Jake did, because maybe just then the man might know how it felt when he’d rejected Connor last December. At the same time Connor didn’t want Jake to feel like how he felt at all.

“Probably in his workshop,” Connor grinned.

“Yea.”

Randall was frowning and there was a lonely and sad look hidden in his eyes that Connor knew too well. He and his brother used to share that look as well. Randall didn’t like that Jake was always in his workshop.

“You don’t want him to be?”

Randall shook his head.

“Why not?”

“Because that’s how he forgets,” Randall said quietly. Connor wanted to ask more but he knew it wasn’t the place. They finished up, had the leftover pizza packed, paid and tipped the waitress and left. They walked together side by side for a block and a half until Randall stopped.

“What is it?” Connor turned to ask. The leftover pizza was neatly and safely packed into his backpack. Connor had left his bronze sword by the guest bed because he assumed there wouldn’t be monsters about in such a small town. He did have a dagger in his backpack just in case however.

Randall looked up at Connor, his face contouring into a miserable expression no seven-year-old should have. He quickly knelt down on one knee to meet Randall’s eye level. The boy was about to burst into tears and Connor quickly held out his arms to let him know he was there.

The boy rushed into Connor’s arms and let out a throaty gasp as he cried. He whimpered against Connor’s neck and held onto him tightly. Connor wasn’t sure exactly how he was at handling kids. He treated Ernest like he would any teenager or adult, and he treated Alethea like she was that same crybaby she was when they first met. But with Randall it was different. He was almost certain Randall was a demigod, because how else would the boy have gone through the force field of Camp Half-Blood? He could have been a descendant as well, but Connor couldn’t tell.

The thing was that Connor just wasn’t used to taking care of others. He was used to taking care of himself and his brother. Add in Will, and by that extension Nico. Those were adults who didn’t require him guessing at whether or not they wanted a hug or to talk or to cry. Alethea was usually very expressive, and she usually just jumped right in when she was crying. She also begrudgingly accepted or asked for his help only when she really needed to. He liked that they had this sort of irritable relationship.

With Ernest he was very down to earth and polite. Now and then Connor would try and joke or prank with him, but mostly he didn’t. Ernest was a lot like Michael, he didn’t like the way Connor acted.

“Come on.” Connor grunted as he picked up Randall and hefted him against his hips. He carried Randall that way back home, wishing he had Alethea’s Hmong baby carrier wrap thing so he could use it to carry Randall hands free. He carried the boy across the street and then recalled that it was night time and the boy may be getting cold.

Crouching down he set Randall on his feet and took off his backpack again. He’d taken out a lot of the things he had packed in it since he wasn’t going to leave now. However Connor did recall leaving his extra button up on. One could never be too careful about layering. He fished it out from the bottom of the bag, shook it out, then had Randall put it on. The boy as eerie quiet crying, and now it seemed he had gone down to sobbing again.

Satisfied with the extra layer on the boy Connor packed up again. As he started moving again he asked Randall, “What did you mean Jake forgets?”

“Grandma told me,” Randall answered.

“She told you what?”

“Jake goes into the workshop and he works so he can forget things and people,” Randall explained. The boy sounded quiet and sad. He wasn’t talkative to begin with, but for some reason it was a very dejected tone. “He works and works so he can forget. One time he forgot to eat for the whole day, he didn’t even come out to pee. Grandma was worried.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Randall replied. “I went to Pops and Nana’s,” he said. “When I came back Grandma told me Jake had been in there all day since I went.” Randall was leaning his head against Connor’s shoulder, telling the story softly against Connor’s neck. “I knocked on the door but he didn’t hear me.”

“So what did you do?” Connor asked. He knew the state Randall were explaining. Jake was intensely focused on his projects sometimes. Connor remembered when he used the Forge as the place to mourn Michael Yew, and he talked on for hours. Jake never reacted too much of anything, just working away at his trinkets and projects. He was certain Jake would have forgotten to go to sleep if Connor hadn’t been there in the late night.

“I bit him.”

Connor burst into laughter. He didn’t think someone would think to do that.

“He got scared and told me to go away,” Randall said, the rejection clearly having cut him. No child should ever feel rejected from their parent.

“Why?”

“He said he almost hurt me,” Randall softly whispered. “He was holding a hammer in his hand when I bit his arm, and he said he almost hit me with it.” Connor understood then. Randall didn’t know it, but Jake would have been running in a fighting state almost. He’d been so focused that anyone disturbing him would have been met with that kind of violent resistance. “But I still come to get him so he doesn’t forget.” Apparently Randall had forgiven Jake for his violent transgression.

“I’m glad you do.”

“Me too.” They were quiet again for a moment until Randall added, “I don’t want him to forget me.”

“He won’t forget you,” Connor promised. How could Jake forget Randall, when his love for Randall ran as deeply as his love for his work? Why else would Jake, barely an adult at the time, have taken in Randall as his son? Why else would the man put on the mantle and stigma of a teenage parent? Of course Jake loved Randall, and no parent could ever forget their child. Not even a godly parent.

“But grandma said…” Randall started but Connor shushed him.

“Remember, we talked about why Jake took you when you mom gave you away?” Connor reminded Randall.

“Yes.”

“Because he loved you.”

“In the hospital?”

“Yes, when he saw you in the hospital.”

“Why was I in the hospital?” Randall asked. “Was I hurt?”

Then Connor laughed. Of all the points to be stuck on, it was this one.

“Why?” came the question again.

“Because that’s where moms go to give birth to babies,” Connor answered, giggling as he tried to calm his laughter.

“I was a baby?”

This time Randall looked appalled by the idea. He chewed on his lips as he did that thing where he put the information away in his head.

“Right now you’re a kid,” Connor explained. Randall nodded, mumbling something like _little person_ against Connor’s neck. Alethea had that kind of influence on people. “Before that you were a baby, but you might not remember a lot about it.”

“Oh.”

“So when you were born, you were a baby and you were in a hospital. Jake came to see you, I think… I don’t really know the story, but I guess that’s true. You should ask Jake. But I think maybe your mom wasn’t the best person to grow up with, right? That’s why she lied to the hospital so Jake could keep you,” Connor tried to explain. Since he didn’t know the actual story he didn’t want to just tell a lie. Lying was easy, but one had to be careful what kind of lies to tell a child. Connor lied to Alethea all the time, but it was just to get her riled up and for laughs. He wouldn’t lie to her about something important, and this was very important.

“But why did Jake want me?”

“Because he loved you.”

“But he didn’t know me.”

Connor sighed. It was tough explaining this when he wasn’t Jake. “I don’t know, but some people do love others just by seeing them the first time. Some people don’t love others until seeing them a thousand times. I have these two friends who loved each other but weren’t together until just a year ago. That was a long time to wait. Six years really.”

“Wow, that’s long.” For a kid that probably was, because Randall was only seven years old. It was basically the kid’s whole lifetime. “So Jake saw me as a baby and he loved me and wanted me?”

“I guess so,” Connor smiled. Too bad it wasn’t the same for Connor. He wasn’t exactly sure why he was fixated on Jake either, but he wasn’t going to lie to himself and tell himself he didn’t have some feeling for Jake. He wasn’t exactly sure what love was in a romantic sense, but he knew he had strong romantic feelings for Jake.

“But Jake isn’t my real dad.”

“No he’s not your father. But that’s okay.”

“How is it okay?”

“Can I ask you a question then?” Connor responded instead of answering.

“Okay,” the boy nodded against Connor’s shoulder.

So he asked, “Do you want Jake to be your dad?”

“Yes.”

“Then he’s your dad,” Connor answered.

“What do you mean?”

“Everyone thinks he’s your dad, and on the hospital papers he’s your dad, and even though some of us know he’s not your real dad that’s okay,” Connor responded. “Alethea will tell you that lying is bad, but sometimes a lie doesn’t hurt anyone. It won’t hurt your friends that Jake isn’t your real dad, and it won’t hurt any of us if Jake isn’t your real dad. And just because he’s not the dad that made you, doesn’t mean he isn’t your real dad.” At least Randall _had_ a dad in his life. Connor only sort of had a father, but not really. Godly parents weren’t too good at keeping track of their kids, but Connor should just be glad that his father had at least visited now and then.

“What do you mean?” Randall asked. “Jake isn’t my real dad but he is my real dad?”

“A _real_ dad is there with you, when you need him,” Connor said. Randall nodded. “That’s what your pops was trying to tell you. Jake is always there for you, isn’t he? Even when he tries to forget when he’s in is workshop. He is still there. That’s a _real_ dad. Someone who is there for you—even if he doesn’t share the same blood, even if he’s not that one that made you, he’s the one that will be there for you when you get older. That’s what matters. He loves you and he’s there. That makes me real. Because you can touch him and know he’s there.” Connor really did wish he had someone like Jake growing up, then that far off memory that haunted him and Travis wouldn’t have been a memory. It wouldn’t have happened at all.

“Oh, I see…”

They were silent the rest of the way. Hoping against all hope, Connor REALLY hoped he somehow convinced Randall that the family he was with was truly his family.


	18. After Dinner

“How was it?” was the first thing Rand asked Connor after he put the sleeping kid in his arms to bed. Randall must have exhausted himself crying and sobbing and not crying all in one evening. They had carefully undressed the kid and put him into his pajamas. Connor smiled when he noticed the Winter Soldier PJs. A mechanical arm printed on one sleep, the armor print, and then very buff arm print in the other. Randall was a much loved child, or else who would have painstakingly made such a sleepwear?

“I’m not sure,” Connor answered quietly. “He’s sad, but I don’t think he’s angry anymore.”

“It’s rare for him to throw a tantrum,” Rand commented. They walked out of Randall’s bedroom quietly, leaving the door ajar. “I didn’t think finding out would make him so angry.” Old Man Rand did that thing where he crossed his arms and tilted his head down to a certain angle as though he was trying to figure out what was wrong with something. Connor smiled. Jake did that when he was stuck on a project. He remembered seeing it often inside the Forge.

“Any kid would be angry,” Connor smiled at the man now looking at him. What else could he do? Connor smiled through worst situations, and he often preoccupied himself from feeling a lot of emotions too strongly by trying to make others laugh.

“Well yes,” Rand sighed.

“You need to remember that Randall is a child,” Connor reminded Rand in a more serious tone. “Just because you and Jake treat him like an adult doesn’t mean he is one. He might act mature but his logic is like that of a kid. _‘What mine is mine, what’s left out is mine, what isn’t mine can be mine.’_ But to tell him his family is actually not his, of course Randall would be angry. He should be even more than angry.” Connor knew at least that he was angry when he realized the reason his father was never around. Yes, his dad had tried. Sending money, calling when he could, visiting when he was close—but he was always busy. Hermes had always been too busy to remember two of his many children around the world.

“We weren’t expecting him to find out yet,” Rand sighed.

“When were you expecting it?” Connor asked. It was surprising Randall had found out the truth, but to have _expected_ Randall to find out eventually? That could only mean that Randall really was a demigod. The bigger question would be whose kid was he and from which side?

“To tell him the truth when he’s claimed,” Rand answered his question.

Connor almost sighed heavily. He could only guess, “You told Jake the truth when he was claimed.”

“Yes, well Jake was surprised about the godly part,” Rand grumbled. Meaning he wasn’t surprised with his father being absent in his life. “I don’t think he’s recovered from it. He hasn’t been the same.” Jake seemed to have come to terms with a lot of things.

“What do you mean?” Connor asked but then quickly changed the question. “Wait, you know about us? About me?”

“Camp Half-Blood,” Rand smirked at him. “Kind of spells it out, kiddo.” Connor groaned. He’d been wearing his old shirt when Rand had found him. Here he thought gods and monsters were supposed to be secret. Guess not.

Then suddenly he paled at the thought of just how intuitive Rand could be. Did he know about Connor and Jake’s time together? Did he somehow sense that too? Gods, he wasn’t exactly ready to be confronted about his sexual orientation. He avoided talking about being bisexual as much as possible with his mother. He left a note with a brief explanation of his sexual orientation when he got off his first summer break two years ago. She never did try to contact him after that, although unlike Travis who was broken up over it, Connor honestly could care less. His mother could accept him as he was or not, but she should also understand that Connor wasn’t going to just hand her everything she deserved as his mother.

“Samantha only ever loved one person,” Rand sighed nostalgically.

“Who is Samantha?”

“My daughter.”

Jake’s mother. Connor then thought about the childhood Jake had. Old Man Rand was saying that Jake never did entirely recover from finding out he was a demigod, but he seemed to be having a normal relationship with his family. Connor wondered if Jake being gay was known either or not. Maybe not. Jake didn’t seem to like explaining things to his family.

“Thank you,” Rand said and his voice sounded the same way Jake’s did when he’d told Connor about Randall all those months ago in the hotel room. It proved that he was broken and sad, desperate and grasping for straws for some kind of assurance.

“Just doing my job,” Connor grinned at the man and then winked. “You’re feeding me and paying me for odd jobs. The least I can do is babysitting, right?” Connor laughed when Rand finally accepted Connor’s view point. He didn’t do it to help, even if he wanted to, he just did it because he owed them. Even families had pride.

“Goodnight Connie.”

“Stop calling me that,” Connor groaned as he walked to the guest bedroom.

“Fat chance.”

Connor still thought the situation was fucked up, but he could live with it for now. Maybe it’ll work out that he never saw Jake.

 

Jake spat out another curse when he cut his finger on his carving tool AGAIN and groaned. He put the damn etching tool down with a heavy sigh and looked up at the ceiling of his small workshop. It was originally a storage closet, but since they cleaned it out years ago Jake had transformed it into his workshop. It was a temporary thing, because Jake was planning to move.

“Jake…” his mother knocked at the threshold of the door. He never closed the door or locked it unless he was leaving the workshop. It was open so his mother and Randall could approach him whenever needed. Sometimes that was dangerous though, he once almost hurt Randall because the boy bit him. He liked biting.

Jake felt a smile on his face as he remembered the first time Randall had bit his arm for his attention. The marks could still be felt.

“Yes mom?”

He hastily cleaned up his current work area before getting off his stool and walking over to her. “Need help?”

“No. I’m just worried about my son,” his mother smiled at him. Samantha Mason’s gentle smile had always been like a ray of light in Jake’s life. Today it seemed so dim in comparison to recent events. It was the morning after he’d dropped Randall off at Jake’s grandfather’s house in town. He didn’t know what to expect but Jake knew he couldn’t handle Randall’s rejection.

His mother, sensing his silence meant he had no response, nodded her head towards the hallway. “Come on, let’s have dinner. I made your favorite.” Jake nodded and stood up, shuffling his big build through the door and into the hallway. He didn’t use to be so big or crowded. He used to be about the same size as Leo Valdez was now. After he got out of college he was surprised to find he’d gotten both taller and stronger than he’d been in high school.

They were just heading into the kitchen when there was a knock at their front door. Samantha told him to set the table and rushed to answer the door.

Jake took a look at his alarm system designed as a fire alarm. Since it wasn’t warning them of any monsters he had good reason to believe there was no danger. So he went into the kitchen as he was told to set up their plates at their kitchen table.

“Set two more,” his mother said cheerfully when she came in. “Randall’s back.” Jake figured that meant his grandfather was too. He honestly didn’t want to be reprimanded by his grandfather again like some child.

Breathing a sigh of relief Jake turned back to get two more plates from the cupboard. When he turned around again Connor was standing in the kitchen doorway with Randall next to him. The boy held Connor’s hand tightly and stared up at Jake with a blank look. He couldn’t read the expression, and he didn’t know what to say either. Seeing Connor again after two days wasn’t exactly on his immediate agenda. He would prefer it if the younger Stoll brother would just leave him alone.

Awkwardly, Jake set the extra places and brought dinner to the table. He helped his mother into her chair, although she really didn’t mind if he stopped doing so. Jake had always done it. It was something a little boy used to find the most important thing in the world to do for their mother. Now Jake just couldn’t seem to stop doing so. It felt wrong if he did.

They ate quietly, and Jake quietly minded his own plate. Normally it was lively because Randall and Samantha would be talking about their day, or Jake’s mother would relate stories of what Randall did. Tonight it felt as though everyone was patiently waiting for him.

“So,” Connor said out into the thick silence. They all looked at him in union but Connor was staring right at him. Jake quickly looked away as the guilt burned and bubbled inside him. It was that gaze, that heroic gaze with expectation. Connor knew Jake wasn’t a hero, but for some reason it was still there. It was the same look he’d stared at Michael Yew with before the boy disappeared. Hope.

Jake tightened his jaw and said nothing.

Connor picked up on Jake’s intentions and began to speak. “Randall wants to talk to Jake later.” Jake paused but didn’t look at anyone, especially not at Randall. He never asked for Connor to interfere, but it seemed that he had.

Dinner finished as quietly as it began. Jake had helped clear the table and shooed his mother away so he could wash the dishes. She had argued, telling him that Randall was more important to speak with. Jake shook his head. He had always finished his jobs as he must, and he wouldn’t skip them even as everyone expected. Randall knew that, for the boy had gone off on his own dragging Connor along.

“Very well,” his mother sighed heavily. “I can only expect you to be like your father.” Jake wasn’t sure how he was exactly like his father, since he only saw him in dreams and had early memories of the man. That was considered lucky. Not everyone got visited by their godly parents even once.

Once he was finished with the chore instead of walking into the living room he exited out the kitchen into the hallway. From there he went back into his workshop and sat there on his stool. He hadn’t sorted out what he should say or bring up, he still wasn’t sure exactly what Randall’s verdict was either.

In his workshop Jake sat for awhile and then he picked up his carving tools and a wooden cube ten inches by six inches. Without thinking he started carving, cutting away from the cube and chipping at it. Before long the shape of the form started to take place and Jake quickly put everything down. Suddenly on alert and the realization of what he was carving Jake twisted around the entrance of his little workshop.

“Well if it isn’t Santa Claus,” Connor spoke drily while leaning against the beam of the door. The look on his face was darken as the seconds past and Jake sat at his workbench staring back at him. What was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to respond? “Randall’s asleep if you care to know.” On his face was an expression Jake had never seen on Connor before. Disappointment. Angry disappointment.

“You took care of him,” Jake said. Part of him was amazed that Connor had. It wasn’t his problem, it wasn’t his family, and he owed Jake nothing.

“He had a pint of ice cream for dessert by the way,” Connor added offhandedly. His gaze was becoming angrily as Jake didn’t move from where he sat. Connor moved from the door, walked in, closed the door and slowly stepped towards Jake. “And just so you know, I didn’t do it for you.” Connor was standing just in front of Jake, and he had to tilt his head up to look at him.

Jake didn’t say a thing in response. What was he supposed to say? Connor still looked angry.

“Thank you,” he decided. He was grateful for Connor doing whatever he did, because it brought Randall home. It didn’t matter why.

“I did it for me,” Connor said, “and Old Man Rand, but mostly me.” Jake was confused by his intentions and his words.

What did Connor have to gain from this?

“You owe me.”

He wasn’t gloating when he said it. It was as though Connor was angry or hurt or both. Jake was just starting to understand what Connor was feeling when the man bent down and kissed Jake.

The kiss wasn’t gentle or brutal, it just sort of _was—_ like it existed and yet no one could exactly define it. It was like when no one could explain the definition for “a” and “an” and yet used it every day of their life. It was there and it was needed but it wasn’t exactly anything without something else with it.

And suddenly Jake couldn’t hold back. He surged for and grabbed Connor, hefting him onto Jake’s lap. His hands wouldn’t leave Connor’s hips as they kissed deeply. Without truly realizing he was doing it, Jake started move Connor’s hips on his lap so the man started rubbing against him. It didn’t take long before Connor was breathless, trying against Jake’s strength to move his hips faster in motion. Jake kept him at a slow pace, and although he let Connor take his breath every so often he never did for long. He wanted those soft lips against his. He wanted Connor’s body against his.

“Jake,” Connor breathed. He leaned forward and wrapped his arms securely around Jake’s shoulders. Then he whispered, “Take me.” Jake blinked and suddenly he had Connor on his cleared off workbench standing over him. Connor leaned back with a glazed look as his shoulder met the wall and sat in him an angle.

Moving forward until his legs pressed the edge of his workbench, Jake bent forward and captured the man’s lips again. This time Connor whimpered just before Jake grabbed his knees and pulled Connor towards him. Connor’s bulge pushed against Jake’s and Connor gasped away from the kiss, staring up at Jake suddenly.

“You…” he said.

Jake didn’t want words. He kissed Connor again. “Shut up.” Connor stared at him silently as if he was doing as told. “Bear with it.” Jake was warning Connor because Connor had asked for it. Jake no longer had the control to stop because deep inside a place where he had hidden his feelings, he wanted Connor too much.


	19. Intimate with Jake

If he wasn’t busy being ravaged, Connor would’ve laughed at the sheer strength Jake displayed when he tore off Connor’s t-shirt and ripped off Connor’s jeans. The man literally ripped his jeans, tearing the fabric until it broke apart and could be yanked off without moving Connor where he sat. He made a sound he didn’t recognize when the hands on his hips rubbed at his ilium.

Jake stopped his kiss and gave Connor a brief, smothering look. The light in his eyes seemed to smile at Connor, asking him something like “ticklish?” Then Jake kissed him again and Connor didn’t even think to protest against the part where his boxers were torn off also. Connor made an unrecognizable noise again when Jake’s thumbs rubbed his ilium again, making his entire body throb. The ministration to his hip bone on his waist was unfamiliar.

He bent inwards, trying to displace Jake’s stroking. Connor broke away from the kiss but then Jake picked him up off the table and reseated him on the table on his knees facing him. Jake crouched over, his head just against Connor’s stomach and his mouth on Connor’s cock.

Connor groaned out miserably. Dear gods. As awkward as the situation he definitely enjoyed the man’s mouth on his cock. He almost wanted to cry at the intensity of Jake’s mouth sucking his dick. It was tight in contrast to the softness of his tongue… what in Hades was the man doing with his tongue? Could one actually swirl their tongue like that with something so large in his mouth? What that normal to do? He’s never had that done to him.

He made a noise he didn’t know again, this time more miserably. He wanted to cry. The rubbing against his hipbone and the mouth on his cock were sensations Connor had never experienced before. While one of Jake’s hands were on his waist rubbing his thumb against his bone there, the other wrapped around to his rear spreading his hole.

Too good. The man was too good. Connor wasn’t sure what he did besides press himself against the man and clutch to him as he sucked on Connor’s dick in that odd position. He might’ve been praying to the gods while Jake sucked him but he wasn’t certain. He was breathing hard as he curled himself towards Jake’s back. Gasping as he tried to cling to Jake’s body.

Fingers entered him and began to scissor inside him. Connor jerked when Jake pushed his digits inside further. He made a sound as he tried to warn Jake he was going to come but failed. Instead he felt Jake’s warm mouth swallowing his cock as Jake took in all his ejaculation before releasing Connor’s limp member.

As he was relaxing from his release Connor was suddenly flipped back onto the worktable. He shouted when Jake had pulled his knees out from under him and his back hit the table. Grumbling in pain Connor shot the man a dirty look but Jake was focused on bending over and kissing his chest.

“Hey, those aren’t boobs.” Connor tried to push him back but Jake pushed forward. A warm tongue laved over one of his nipples. Then teeth bit around it. Connor’s legs tightened around Jake’s waist where they were positioned as the man then sucked his nipple.

“Stop.”

“No,” came Jake’s reply. Connor opened his mouth to respond but Jake shot him a look that clearly asked if he was still talking. Then he turned back to touching Jake’s nipples.

“Stop.” Connor felt the tears welling up as Jake moved one hand back to his hip. “Don’t.” Connor’s legs tightened instinctively around Jake’s waist again. When Jake moved his other hand from Connor’s chest to the other side of his hip Connor broke out in laughter.

It didn’t seem to deter Jake that Connor was laughing. The man bit down on Connor’s shoulder, making him yelp in shock.

“Be quiet.”

“That’s a little hard to do here!” Connor rubbed at the teeth marks on his skin. Jake made an angry noise and stood up. Connor put his legs down to hang over the table as he glared up at the man standing between his legs. “What?” He tried to inch back his face as Jake leaned towards him again.

“Why?”

Connor could see that Jake’s eyes were a little off. Blue flames. He gasped in reflex as Jake’s face came in closer. The man took in a deep breath, sniffing him in the process.

“Why?”

Connor felt heat rise up when Jake asked him again. What was he supposed to answer to such a question? Suddenly Connor felt someone laughing at him far in the distance. He could understand now how others might have felt when he and Travis used to ask such bold questions.

Why? Because Jake was the one making him make those noise, but Connor couldn’t say that. How could he?

“I see,” Jake said. The man stood up straight and pulled Connor towards him. He kissed Connor deeply as he wrapped Connor’s legs around his hips again. The engorged bulge in Jake’s pants pushed against his crotch and he quickly pulled from the kiss to stare down at it. “Next time,” Jake whispered against his ear before planting a kiss on it.

Jake put down Connor’s legs and stepped back. Connor couldn’t bring himself to look at the man who hadn’t even pleasured himself. Then he looked up and watched as Jake busied himself reorganizing and putting things away in the less than spacious workshop. Then Jake stopped as he came to pick up Connor’s torn clothing.

Gathering the items the man stood up and put them down next to Connor on the table. He didn’t say anything but Connor could tell that as Jake was recollecting himself he was also very apologetic about it. Jake tugged off his t-shirt and roughly slipped it on Connor. When he looked at Connor his face turned red and all Connor could do was break into another laugh. Jake was still hard and now he had a very murderous look in his eyes from putting his own shirt on Connor.

“What’s funny?” Jake grumbled angrily. The man glared down at where Connor sat, the hem of his shirt bunching up around Connor’s hip and barely covering his lower half in his sitting position. Despite his own size Connor could tell that Jake’s shirt size was a lot bigger.

The memory of once seeing Travis step into the living room wearing only Michael’s large shirt assaulted him. Connor had made fun of Travis being so well kept he was even wearing Michael’s shirts to bed. Of course he was rewarded with Travis wearing nothing but the shirt for half the day.

Connor shooed away the memory and smiled up at Jake. “Sexy?” He lifted up one leg on the table to spread himself out teasingly at Jake. The man’s glare darkened.

“Come.” Jake grabbed Connor’s hand and yanked him off the table. He tried to keep up with Jake’s large strides and run through the house barefoot without making noise. At the same time he tried to keep the shirt down by pulling the hem as far down as it could stretch. He followed Jake up the stairs and into a room with the lights off. It sounded like Jake’s mother had gone to bed already too.

“Sleep.” Jake pushed Connor onto a bed in the dark.

Reaching in the dark he found the blankets and struggled to get under them before Jake finished stripping. Connor had just managed to hide himself under the covers when a naked Jake joined him.

Hands grabbed him and pulled him towards the middle of the bed. One hand pulled his leg around Jake’s hip and leaned him on Jake.

“Like this?” he asked Jake who was almost face to face with him. Connor was lower on the bed so he was mostly looking at Jake’s mouth and chin.

“Sleep.” Arms wrapped around his torso and waist and Connor laid still in the dark. Soon Jake’s breathing became steady.

Connor was well aware that the borrowed t-shirt was riding up over his abs, and he was naked all the way down from there. He also couldn’t stop thinking of Jake’s heat mixing with his own as his crotch rested against Jake’s own. He could feel Jake’s hardened member riding up between his opened legs and Connor couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Was the man a sadist? Did he like this kind of torture? How do you sleep naked against each other like this? Questions upon questions bombarded Connor until he couldn’t take it anymore. He tried to remove the leg that was pulled up to wrap around Jake’s hip.

A hand quickly grabbed his thigh and pressed his leg still. Connor pressed his lips together so as to not make a sound in frustration. This was getting him nowhere. He didn’t want to be this close to a man who had rejected him. He’d thought it would be interesting, maybe even funny, if he’d just dangled Jake’s family problem in front of him. He hadn’t actually meant for the man to take it as being indebted to him. He didn’t want Jake to…

His thinking made an abrupt stop in its path.

He didn’t want to, but at the same time he did. He wanted to feel Jake inside him again so badly. Although their first time could be considered without consent, it wasn’t like Jake hadn’t warned him. It wasn’t as though he couldn’t have stopped it. Jake might have been stronger but Connor wasn’t without his own defenses. Their first time had been rough though, and brutally distant like one was with a one-night stand. Connor wanted more than that from Jake, and he wanted it so desperately.

He just didn’t want Jake to feel obligated to do so, which was unusual. Connor was used to scheming his way through everything. He was used to stealing and taking things by force. He was used to making others feel obligated to give him what he wanted. Not that he did it out of any odd ideas of glory or such. Simply because he’d felt the notion to, but this was different.

Knowing that Jake would give him this warmth out of a sense of obligation really stung Connor’s pride. How was he supposed to handle any of this? A lot of things he has experienced in the short time he was in this town were new to him. For example he never ate a formal dinner before, so he was nervous when he was asked to dinner so suddenly by Samantha Mason. He didn’t know how he should act or what he should do, or if conversation was normal. When he ate with Michael and Travis no one really cared or said anything, since they were all close enough not to care. He could tell by the way that Jake and Randall ate that they were used to the politeness and formalities of eating together with others in attendance.

He hadn’t planned on staying either, but he had stopped by Jake’s workshop because he thought it was the thing to do. He didn’t want to up and leave without saying anything. He’d even told Samantha he would be heading out, although she insisted he stay the night. When he said he had to go she had off-handedly reminded him to tell Jake since he was too engrossed in his workshop to realize anything. Then this all happened.

Connor pushed himself against Jake’s warm body. He couldn’t see it in the dark very well but he could somewhat make out the tattoo over Jake’s chest where his heart was. He bent his head against Jake’s collarbone and took in a deep breath. Now he knew the kind of pain Nico had to go through and the confusion his brother felt. It was a kind of pain that was barely bearable but small little moments like this helped salve the aches. _Just for now_ , he thought and closed his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again Connor was blinking up at Jake staring down at him in bed. He didn’t know what to say exactly. _Good morning, how are you feeling?_ That sounded a little more like Jake was recovering in a hospital bed. _Hey baby._ No, that was just all off. _Hey sexy_. Too personal and far too sexually implicit, considering the pattern Jake might just screw him on the bed.

“Morning,” Jake whispered. Connor then realized that it was early morning, the sun was peeking over the horizon but it still a little dark out. The window curtains were open so the light shone and he could see the small ray of light beaming over Jake’s muscled body.

Stuttering for a moment he decided on greeting Jake with a dumb nod of his head. The man gave him a quiet smile, his lips lifting up just slightly but the smile was completely shining in his blue eyes.

“Morning,” Jake said again before he kissed Connor softly on the lips. Connor immediately tensed as Jake pulled back, then came down again and kissed Connor once more. He was still tense but opened his lips so Jake’s tongue could enter. Jake pulled away again and then leaned down and flicked his tongue out to lick Connor’s upper lip as his mouth was still slightly open.

He laid there frozen. That flick of the tongue lick has never been done before. Connor had never experienced it. It was new and different but it was so strangely intimate. Kissing was so normal, and he was used to people’s tongue against his lips while they were locked in a kiss so he would open his mouth. He wasn’t used to people licking his lip after the fact and so gently as if he was licking off the top of an ice cream cone.

He felt something press between his legs at his crotch and realized Jake was still naked and there. Gods, the man was just naturally between Connor’s legs like it was the only position they should have in bed. Connor’s face heated up when Jake moved to give him a peck on the cheek and his body pressed downwards against Connor’s crotch again.

“I’m going for a run,” Jake then announced quietly. “Gonna join me?”

“Uh… no.” Connor really didn’t know how to react to that. He definitely needed to run. “In a bit. You can go ahead.” Jake smiled for him again, that drop-dead gorgeous quiet smile of his where his blue eyes shine and his fucking lips were begging to get ravaged—or to ravage. Connor was too turned on. It was a dream. All of this had to be a dream.

“Okay.” Jake got out of bed and threw the covers over Connor. He proudly began putting on sweats and a t-shirt before putting on his running shoes.

“Have a good run,” Connor found himself saying.

Jake nodded and grabbed his music player and wireless earbuds from his desk in front of the bed.

Connor groaned into the pillow as he flipped himself onto his stomach. He heard Jake leave out the front door. Looking out into the forest view from the second floor window where he laid, Connor couldn’t stop thinking about Jake. Jake Mason, son of Hephaestus, retired cabin leader and all that jazz… He wasn’t exactly extraordinary but Connor couldn’t stop thinking about the man. Jake wasn’t even in his sights except for the time when he had been a cabin leader. So why now?

It couldn’t be that Connor was attracted to the man because he watched Connor cry. This wasn’t some melodramatic high school love. He couldn’t be attracted to Jake because he saw him masturbating or because the man had fucked him. Somewhere inside Connor wanted to see how far he could push Jake before his composure broke down like when he was caught watching him masturbate. Jake had lost himself in getting off and then lost himself in Connor.

Why?

Why him?

The guy didn’t even have any qualms about Connor just dropping into his lap, or popping up out of nowhere, or crying out of the blue, or jumping on him, or intruding in on his life. It was almost like he just wasn’t surprised at all by any of it. Like he could be bothered but didn’t care. He just accepted it.

Connor then remember, the memory popping up from the back of his mind.

_“Jake’s got a boyfriend.”_

_“You owe me for this.”_

He almost laughed. Well then, there was no point in Jake doing all the lovey-dovey sexy stuff. They were even. He’d forgotten that Jake had done him a favor by letting him mourn Michael Yew and cry his heart out in the Forge. It had felt like so long ago since then. Now that Connor had paid him back by convincing Randall to understand the complicated thinking of the adults in his life, he no longer owed Jake anything.

Still. Why him?

Connor buried his face back into the pillow with a big sigh. Everything smelled like Jake. A quiet spice of the woods, heated metalwork and a bit of grease—everything here was him. Connor quickly flipped around and sat up to look around the room. It was light enough since the sun rose quickly. An intricately carved wooden desk in front of the giant bed, and it was designed simply despite the leg carvings of the designs on the drawers. Connor moved out of the bed and approached the desk, smoothing his hand over the top of the desk. There were some design plans left on top of it, and an opening where Jake could pull up the board to tilt the table top. A built in drawing stand in an office desk, it sounded very Jake-like.

He moved from the desk towards the window. In the corner away from the bed, where the wall of the window and the wall the desk was against met, there was a bookshelf. There were quite a few of books on designs, metalwork, and all that career craftsmanship related stuff. At the bottom shelf Connor almost laughed. Of course it would be a shelf just for Randall, chocked full with picture books and chapter books and thick books of fairytales and adventures. There were even DVDs and… Connor bent down and pulled out the green matted binder. He probably shouldn’t but it was Connor, he would.

He opened the binder with Randall’s name on it. Jake as Connor remembered him at Camp, holding a tiny newborn Randall in his arms with the biggest goddamn smile on his face. Randall’s date and time of birth were noted down. He flipped it to the next page, and it was a close up of Jake kissing baby Randall on the cheeks.

_Handsome._

Connor shook his head, having no idea where that thought came from.

“Connor!” Randall jumped on him and gave him an energetic hug.

“Hey punk,” Connor greeted him with a smile where he sat against the bookshelf. “Up already?”

“I went to sleep too early.” Randall unceremoniously climbed over Connor’s arms into his lap. He stared at the opened binder with his photos and dates and times of the pictures or events. “Who are they?” Randall asked.

Connor flipped the page back to the first page. “That’s you in the hospital with Jake,” Connor pointed at the picture.

“That’s Jake?”

“He looks different?”

“He looks smaller.”

“Well he was a lot younger then,” Connor shrugged. He wasn’t going to mention that Jake was probably still going through his puberty stage. He did go from a tall and slightly lean guy to a tall and broad shouldered muscled hottie in just a few years.

“Will I grow up like Jake?”

“I’m not sure. You might,” Connor shrugged again. He could see the disappointment rolling on Randall and the way the boy was dwelling on the fact that he wasn’t blood related to Jake. “You gotta eat all your vegetables and work hard you know, to be as big as Jake is,” Connor chimed in with a teasing tone. Randall immediately perked up.

“I do! I do!” he attested.

Connor chuckled and changed to sitting with his legs crossed under him so Randall could comfortably sit on his lap. He turned the page next to the one where Jake was kissing a baby Randall.

“There he is, kissing you.” Connor read the date and time and realized it must have been taken when Jake returned to Camp Half-Blood. The picture was from the summer of the Battle of Manhattan. It must have been difficult choosing to raise a kid, and then leave the child to go to a summer camp, and in that same summer end up as the leader of the camp. The responsibilities must have been hard to carry.

“Ew.”

Connor then pointed to the next one on the next page. It was a picture of Jake sleeping on his bed with baby Randall. Randall was probably a toddler by then, he did look bigger and enough for Jake to cuddle close to his body. Connor wondered for a moment who had been taking the pictures, but then Jake probably only had his family to rely on all these years so it must have been his mother or grandfather.

The next picture were pictures of Randall either with an older couple or with Samantha. He was growing up more and more in the pictures. Sometimes there would be a Christmas picture with Randall and Jake. Like father like son, the two both looked pretty solemn and quiet in those forced photographs. Randall himself seemed engrossed in the pictures he didn’t recall having to pose for.

“Jake’s not in a lot of these,” Randall mentioned as they flipped to another page.

“College.” Realization dawned on him that Randall must have been raised by Samantha and the older couple in the pictures while Jake was away for college. The way the edges were cringed on the photos, as if someone had held them in their hands and stared at them for a long time made sense. The first couple pictures where Jake was in the photos were pristine. They were printed right away and then transferred to the binder. However these were all photos that were probably sent to Jake during his time in college, where he probably looked at often before safely putting it back somewhere. These were all Jake’s keepsake.

The finally a birthday picture of five-year-old Randall also had Jake in it. Randall wasn’t smiling but he did look shy as he was held against Jake’s chest to take the picture. He must have been shy at the time, not really knowing what to do now that the man who only showed up during holidays was around for good. Jake had returned from college.

Another member came to Connor then as they flipped through a few more pages with pictures. There were a lot. Jake and Randall at a carnival, or Jake and Samantha with Randall for trick-o-treating, the pictures went on and on but neither seemed to be smiling in the pictures. The level of intimacy seemed to wane as the photos went on. In fact the two seemed to be even more solemn and distant despite how close they were supposed to be. It must have been because all the photos were posed, different from the unnatural and secretly taken ones in the beginning.

Something kept bothering him. Something in the back of his mind wanted him to ask about the number of years. He needed to know the years.

“Randall, how old are you?” Connor asked.

“Eight.”

Eight years. Eight years ago was the Battle of Manhattan. It was just after Randall’s birth but there was something else… Connor tried to remember. Back during the reunion at Camp Half-Blood, he had overheard Jake talking. Seven years, he’d said.

_“There was someone else.”_

Jake’s words came back. He’d been on the phone, probably with his mother or someone talking about his future plans. There had been someone he liked during the time of the war.

 _“About seven years ago…”_ he’d said at the time. It had to be during the Battle of Manhattan. What happened? There was someone else so he just never confessed apparently. So who was the person Jake liked? Was that also why he didn’t want Connor? He said he couldn’t approach the person because there was someone else the person liked.

Who was the person? Nico? Percy? Annabeth? He’d mentioned that he didn’t need another woman in his life at the time, so Connor could assume it was a woman. Only it seemed like Jake liked guys too, and he was used to it. Oh gods, it couldn’t be Travis could it? No, at the time of the Battle of Manhattan no one knew about Michael Kahale or the Romans so it had to be during the Battle of Manhattan.

“I need to run,” Connor sighed out in defeat. He needed to clear his head. He needed to stop thinking. “Stay home, go it?” he told Randall.

“Sure, but are you going to put on your underwear?” Randall sat on the floor with the binder in his lap as he stared up at Connor standing up. Connor turned away to hide his blush right away. He’d forgotten he was only wearing Jake’s shirt. “You really like Jake’s clothes don’t you? You wore his stuff last time too.” Connor didn’t respond. As of right now he didn’t have spare clothes either so he would have to borrow Jake’s clothes.

“Where are your dad’s clothes?”

“His shirts are in the closet and his pants are in the dresser.”  When Connor opened the closet there were shirts hung up and a dresser squeezed into the closet.

“Shorts?”

“Don’t know.”

Connor opted for a t-shirt he found in one of the drawers. It wasn’t much different from the one he was wearing but it was clean. He found a pair of drawstring sweats. The legs were too long and the waist just a little too wide for him. He had to use the drawstring to keep it from falling off and had to tuck in the overly large t-shirt so he didn’t look so odd in the getup. Connor had to roll up the pants legs to make it look like he was wearing Capri pants.

“I’m heading out for a bit then. Be good.”

Connor had gotten to the bottom of the stairs when he recalled he’d been undressed in Jake’s workshop. When he turned into the hallway thinking he would have to break into the workshop for his shoes he found that his shoes were sitting by the door of the workshop. Jake must have remembered to bring them out beforehand. Connor quickly tied on his shoes and ran out the door.

He ran blindly onto the road and then into a forested path. He ran without thinking about where he was going or trying to remember the way back. This was the best way to clear his mind. He ran until he had to stop.

Connor collapsed onto the field of grass and branches in the middle of nowhere under a tree. Staring into the morning sky trying to catch his breath Connor let the white haze wash over him. Who needed mind-blowing sex when he could reach the same bliss from running his heart out? He closed his eyes in relaxation and let himself bleed into the earth underneath him, forgetting all else.


	20. A Mason Morning

Jake had taken a breather at the usual spot in the forest where a bench was placed. Because of the exterior of the bench and how it was designed it looked like a giant fallen tree trunk. In some way it was just a tree trunk being used as a bench. Once he felt as if he had recovered Jake got up again and started jogging back towards the house.

He was just jumping over a log when he had to swerve in midair to stop himself from landing. Somehow Jake managed to do a one-hand cartwheel so as not to land on Connor unexpectedly sleeping randomly on the ground.

He heard a muffled voice while still in the middle of his cartwheel. The next thing he knew Connor's long legs were swinging across the ground, tripping his only hand which kept him somehow balanced. Jake crashed hard on the floor, luckily managing to land using his shoulder rather than his neck for a cushion.

"Shit!" Connor grumbled as he sat up and looked around. "Jake? Sorry man, I’m not..."

"Dammit Stoll," Jake cursed himself. He quickly recovered from his fall and picked himself up.

"Sorry. Sorry."

Jake brushed off the dirt and twigs off himself. "What are you doing taking a nap in the middle of nowhere."

"This town is in the middle of nowhere." A yawn accompanied that statement.

"Ah, excuse me for being so unimportant," Jake quipped back. Not like he felt offended by it really. The question was whether or not it was absolutely necessary for Connor to constantly cause him bodily pain.

“That’s not what I meant,” Connor grumbled. His cheeks puffed out as he sat cross-legged with his arms in his lap. The image seemed very him but also very unlike him. Connor was childish in the sense of mischief. He was not childish in the sense of being cute.

Coming to a reluctant conclusion that he had to ask, Jake crouched down onto his knees in front of Connor. “So what are you doing lying in the middle of nowhere?” He shouldn’t have repeated the question but he did. There wasn’t much else Jake could say. It wasn’t exactly the time to be making conversation either.

“Got tired,” Connor answered. He tried not to look Jake’s way but made it pretty obvious that he wasn’t. Connor could be discreet when he wanted to, but it was apparent that he wanted Jake to realize he didn’t want to see him.

“Did you do your stretches?”

“Who stretches?”

“Normal people.”

“Excuse me for not being normal,” Connor grumbled then. Jake’s earlier quip must have struck a nerve or something. Bantering was only thing normal about their interactions. “I just…” Connor stopped mid-sentence and seemed to daze off a bit. “Well, you see…” His face started turning red all of a sudden. In the quiet as Connor’s tough expression started breaking down Jake heard the cry of the man’s stomach.

Laughing wouldn’t really help the situation. Having not eaten breakfast Jake was hungry himself, but this was routine for him. Connor wasn’t exactly home or adjusted yet so his routine was probably all off.

“Let’s head back,” Jake stood up to lead the way. They weren’t far off. The house was a little less than a mile if he just walked directly northwest from here. Connor wasn’t following a trail either, although if he’d taken the time to look around he would have noticed that there were subtle markings on the trees to show the way back.

First Connor stood, but he did it slowly. Then suddenly his knees buckled and he collapsed back onto the ground. Connor did try to wave his help away but Jake grabbed the man’s arm and forced him up.

“You didn’t eat yesterday.”

“I did. We had dinner.”

“No, your plate was still full.” Jake pulled Connor onto his back and gave him a piggyback ride. Connor argued for part of the way and more than once tried to jump off him but he didn’t have the energy to fight Jake. To make Connor cooperate he threatened to carry Connor like a new bride which effectively made Connor stop. Instead the man was consistently putting his hands in Jake’s hair and sniffing his neck as they walked.

“Sleepy.”

“Ah, that’s because you’re hungry. What idiot doesn’t eat dinner and decides to go for a marathon run?” Jake wondered exactly how smart Connor was if this actually happened. Plus, a person couldn’t have been shaking so involuntarily just from a lack of hunger. Connor did feel a bit on the slim side but overall his health seemed balanced—despite his obvious lack of a balanced diet.

“Dizzy.”

Dizziness wasn’t exactly a side effect of hunger. Not that Jake knew of anyways. Connor was also a seasoned demigod so he should have rations with him. A small block of ambrosia could sustain an uninjured person for some time.

Ten minutes later he found the main road to the house. He stepped into the road and started walking towards the house. As the house came into view Connor said he felt better, but Jake could tell he was still feeling weak. His breath was hitching, as if he was trying to catch his breath and hold it at the same time.

“Stomach…”

Assuming that Connor felt sick to his stomach Jake was surprised he hadn’t vomited. It could be that the guy has motion-sickness but he doubted that. It could be a mix of reasons why Connor was so weak. He’d showed up out of nowhere, suddenly had to help with Randall, dragged into a dinner and forced to sleep over, and many other stressful situations. He didn’t even eat yesterday.

Connor sniffed Jake’s hair again and exhaled loudly for effect. Jake wondered what was so special about a sweaty person who hadn’t even showered yet, but if Connor got off from it Jake shouldn’t judge.

“We’re almost back to the lodge.”

“Kay.”

It felt like a life time as Jake carried Connor on his back to the house. Jake didn’t want it to end but he knew all things ended eventually. Besides, the reason he was carrying Connor was because the man was probably starving and too weak to walk himself anywhere.

“Put me down,” Connor said against his neck. “Let me walk.”

“No.”

Jake opened the door but Connor struggled to get down. As he promised Jake quickly set Connor down on his feet and then swept him off his feet to carry him like a bride. He even purposely walked through the door like they were a newly married couple.

“I will drop you,” he warned Connor immediately. Connor groaned out loud then relaxed into Jake’s arms. “You need to eat.” Jake carried him into the kitchen and sat him down at the kitchen table. He simply told Connor to sit there and wait as he started on breakfast.

His mother came down ready for the day, but she took her usual bowl of yogurt and orange slices before disappearing to work on her craft pieces. Jake put down a plate of scrambled eggs and then a plate of sausages. He’d gone back to the kitchen cupboard to grab the cooling biscuits and the bagels when he heard the pattering of tiny footsteps. As if nothing had changed, Randall seated himself at the table, making sure he was adjacent to Connor instead of across from him.

“Hey,” Connor yawned at Randall.

“I peed!” Randall announced, and the face Connor made was priceless.

“Did you wash your face?” Jake asked Randall in turn.

“Yes.”

“Brush your teeth?”

“Yes.”

“Combed your hair?”

“Yes.”

“Changed your clothes?”

“Yes.”

“Your underwear?” He double checked. Randall liked to forget the details.

“Yes.”

“Good.”

Jake put down a plate for each of them and seated himself on the other side of Connor at the table. “Eat.” Randall grabbed a biscuit right away and asked for a serving of eggs. Jake couldn’t help but smile as Randall poked his fork at one sausage and then a second sausage and tried to fit a third one on the fork. When it wouldn’t hold he gave up and kept his two sausages.

“Eat,” Jake said to Connor again. Connor nodded but it seemed as if he wasn’t exactly concentrating on breakfast. “Want me to feed you?” he asked. If Jake had to he would force the food down Connor’s throat.

Face all red Connor grumbled and shook his head. Jake told him to eat again but Connor didn’t move where he sat.

“Randall,” Jake sighed out then. The book looked up from stuffing his face with eggs. Jake gave him another sausage on his place and another scoop of eggs. “You may watch TV and eat breakfast in the living room today.” Randall grinned brightly, food still in his mouth. He grabbed his plate and plopped himself away into the living room to turn on the TV.

Satisfied that Randall was engrossed on watching TV and eating Jake turned back to Connor. It was unusual for the man to be acting so shyly. He asked him once more to eat but even though Connor nodded he still didn’t move to grab anything.

“Okay,” Jake said, giving up. He took a bite of sausage and leaned in and kissed Connor should he could feed him. He didn’t move away even after depositing the bite into Connor’s mouth, instead he kept his lips against Connor and opened his eyes to stare into Connor’s. He waited until Connor swallowed to pull away.

“What were you thinking?” Connor hissed at him as he wiped his lips with the back of his hand. His face was as red as a tomato. Jake would have said it was cute but in all honesty he found it a little funny instead.

“I told you I would feed you if you didn’t eat.”

“Shut up, who the hell feeds people like that?”

Jake stared at him and cocked an eyebrow.

“Okay, don’t shut up,” Connor grumbled angrily as he looked away from Jake again. “You don’t talk enough as it is.”

“I talk plenty.”

“No you don’t. You never say…” Connor gasped for breath.

“See, you don’t have enough energy. What, did you want to be a Nico di Angelo 2.0?” Jake was joking but for some reason Connor’s face turned even redder. Connor still wasn’t eating and his entire expression said he wanted to runaway. Jake didn’t understand why he was embarrassed when Jake was only teasing him.

Or was it because he was teasing him?

“Do you want me to feed you again?”

“No!”

“Wow that hurts. It’s like you hate me or something,” Jake said noncommittally. He didn’t really like joking around too much or going along with jokes for too long. Connor and Travis have always been the pranksters, but Jake had always been the kind to try not to stand out too much.

“I don’t hate you!” Connor snapped. Then tears started welling up in his eyes. Dear gods, what happened? Did he take his joke too far? Connor Stoll was crying and he’d only seen the man cry in the Forge. At the time they only way he knew how to handle that was to leave him alone. He wasn’t sure if that was what he should be doing now either. “I don’t…” Connor’s voice broke down.

“You’re such a child,” Jake sighed out heavily. He didn’t mean it in a mean way but apparently Connor took it to hurt and his tears came down even more heavily. Without knowing what the best course was, Jake gave up and picked Connor up from the chair. Straddling Connor’s legs around his waist Jake put his arms under Connor and carried the man as he would a sleeping child against his chest.

"Stop," Connor hissed.

"Someone who is close to fainting should be quiet, or I'll carry you like a new bride again." Jake felt Connor give up immediately, that something that Jake remembered Connor didn't do easily. He carried Connor up the stairs and back into his bedroom.

Putting Connor into his bed again, he took the time to stare down at Connor. Labored breathing, involuntary shaking hands, fatigue and hunger—it couldn't just be that he was hungry.

"When was the last time you ate a whole meal?" Jake asked him. Connor turned away. Now that he was in bed and under the covers Connor could huddle himself inside the covers, something he did immediately once faced with Jake. He turned his back to Jake and put the covers over his head. "What's wrong now?"

"Just leave me alone."

Jake sighed again. Coming to the conclusion that he would have to be the bad guy, Jake sat down on the side of the bed and put a hand on top of the bulge under the covers.

“I’ll bring breakfast up. So eat it here.”

“Are you going to watch?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t watch.”

“Then eat. I have to get ready for work soon. Later you can come to the shop and have lunch with me.” Jake stood up and went back downstairs to fetch breakfast for Connor. When he brought it back up Connor was still stubbornly cocooned under the covers.

He pulled the covers away and put the tray of food down on Connor’s lap when the man finally sat up. Telling him to stop sulking made Connor angry, but for some reason he still wouldn’t eat.

“Do you think I would poison you?” Jake asked him. He pulled out his desk chair and sat down at his desk.

“No.”

“Then eat.”

Turning away from Connor he picked up the book he’d left on his desk and opened it. Reading manuals had always been interesting. Jake had learned about cars, traffic laws, and how to drive before he had even been in front of a steering wheel. Manuals helped him understand the ins and outs of things. He could spend half a day reading a manual before even realizing he was hungry.

Normally he could completely lose himself in his manual. However, Jake found that after every other paragraph he would have to read the last sentence over and over again. He paid close attention to Connor silently eating as Jake was turned away rather. It was difficult to completely focus on the details of explanation of Toyota hybrid cars and their engine system.

Jake put down the book and turned to face Connor in his bed. Connor had finished eating, wiping the sausage grease from his lip with his thumb and licking it reflexively. Then Connor noticed him staring and quickly turned his face away as he brightened up red again.

“I’m finished.”

Instead of replying sarcastically, as they both knew Jake could see the evidence of that, he stood up and picked up the empty tray and plate. He asked if Connor wanted anymore but got a shake of the head in response. So he asked if Connor wanted a drink but he also shook his head.

“Can I leave?”

“You’re not a prisoner.” Jake couldn’t believe Connor just asked him permission to do something. He was accustomed to Connor’s usual selfishness and pranks. Before stepping out into the hallway Jake thought to turn back and added, “But you probably won’t make it to the door in your state.” A pillow flew at him but he ducked out of the way as he left.

Jake was sitting at the kitchen table eating his own breakfast when Randall’s tiny feet plopped on the wooden floor towards him. He looked over at Randall as the boy put the empty plate on the table and then sat himself down. He looked around for a moment as though searching for something he’d hoped would be there.

“Connor’s not feeling well.”

“Oh. Was he too hungry?” Randall asked quietly.

“Maybe.”

“He didn’t eat yesterday.”

“Maybe he didn’t like dinner,” Jake added, in hopes that would make Randall feel better. The crease between Randall’s tiny eyebrows spoke volumes. The boy was oddly sensitive, and it was very obvious he was worried that Connor hadn’t wanted to eat because of them.

“He didn’t have breakfast or lunch either.”

No breakfast or lunch yesterday was cause for some concern. Why would Connor starve himself that way, when he wasn’t used to it? Some people did fast, but it took a slow adjustment to get used to fasting. Somehow Connor didn’t seem like that type to abstain from anything.

“He ate today,” Jake decided to say instead.

“Jake.”

“Yes Randall?”

“Do you want to forget me?” Randall popped an unexpected question. Forget Randall? Why would he want that? Jake was too slow in answering and Randall asked him again, this time less confidently than his stubborn boy usually would have. “Do you ever want to forget that you had me? Do you want to forget taking me from the hospital? Do you want to forget me?” And he could hear the real questions in the tone of Randall’s quickening anxiousness.

_Do you love me? Did you stop loving me? Do you regret bring me home from the hospital? Do you want to throw me away now?_

“I don’t want you to forget,” Randall said and there were tears streaming down the boy’s face.

_Please love me._

Jake’s response was to get up and pick Randall up into his arms. He held the boy to his chest tightly as he briskly made his step up the stairs. In the hallway before turning towards his own bedroom Jake pointed at the bracelet the boy wore on his arm still.

“I could never forget you,” Jake promised. Randall was part of him. Jake set Randall’s tiny hand over his heart. “Never.” Then he carried the boy into his bedroom where Connor was cocooned. Depositing the boy onto the bed as well he promptly told Connor and Randall to stay in bed and to come meet him at lunch at the shop later.

Randall quietly slipped under the covers and joined in on Connor’s cocoon. Jake ignored the ridiculousness of it and went about getting himself ready for work. One sulking kid on his hand was enough.


	21. Grabbing a Bite

“Connor! Connor!” Two tiny hands smacked Connor’s cheeks trying to pull him from the gray expanse of his sleep. Connor groaned and turned over only to be jumped on ten seconds later. Randall lied on top of his back and asked next to his ear, “Are you sick?”

“No, just sleepy.”

“Are you sad?”

“No?”

“Oh. When I’m sad I get sleepy.”

Connor was pretty sure that was universal for sad people. Depression and loneliness often times made people dispassionate about the world around them, and so they feel the need to sleep even more often. Most likely so they could avoid the world. Connor did feel like avoiding Jake at the moment.

“Can’t we go get lunch?”

“With Jake?”

Quietness. Then Randall bit down hard on Connor’s neck and shoulder. Yelping, Connor bucked and threw Randall off him onto the other side of the bed. Fortunately the boy only flew so far, he would have panicked if Randall fell off the bed.

“He will be nice,” Randall said stubbornly as he sat up. His legs stretched out in front of him and his arms down in front of his lap like he was a sitting dog, Randall almost looked stern enough to rival Ernest’s glare at Alethea.

Giving up because Randall was too adorable, Connor stretched out his tensed muscles before getting out of bed. “Get dressed then.” Connor patted Randall on the head before looking around for clothes to borrow. He should just head back to Rand’s place as he was and get dressed there, but Connor figured it would probably be more embarrassing for Jake to show up in Jake’s clothes.

After a quick shower and debating over the clothes he’d rummaged through the closet for—the ones that would fit anyways—Connor found Samantha Mason knocking on the bedroom door as he was looking for a shirt. In her hands she had some clothes as well. She smiled at him and laughed when she saw that he was wearing one of Jake’s giant t-shirts and currently no pants.

“You must be very close if Jake would let you wear his shirt.” Samantha walked in and handed him the pants in her hand. She kept the shirt to herself, although Connor would have appreciated the shirt she had as it seemed to be about his size.

“Not really, I’m the kind that looks through people’s refrigerator without permission,” Connor commented. In all honesty he only did that at Michael’s house to annoy him. Too bad it was hard as Hades to get Michael’s pants in a knot. For someone so set on how things are done properly, he was too indifferent.

“That’s fine too.” Jake’s mother smiled at him. “Perhaps you’ll stay here.”

“I’m staying over at Old Man Rand’s,” Connor quickly said. Somewhere at the back of his neck was a chilled spot, and it was telling him Samantha Mason was suggesting something a lot more than an old friend staying with Jake. Did she know? Of course there were cool parents like Will’s mother who accepted their kid’s sexual orientation but not everyone was so lucky. Connor couldn’t imagine Jake suddenly telling his mother he was into guys too, especially when he had Randall.

“That’s too bad.” She brushed it off by turning back towards the door. “Reconsider it, won’t you?” She smiled at him as if she knew his secrets and walked out of the hallway.

“That was fucking scary.” Now Connor was doing the talking thing to himself. That was Travis’ quirk.

Connor slipped on the pants he’d been given. The faded blue jeans slipped on nicely, and he had to make sure the borrowed underwear was tucked in with the giant t-shirt he wore. Connor stared down at the jeans for a while. Jake must have worn these during his high school years. Gods, was Connor really that much smaller than Jake? His pants waist size now was two sizes larger.

As he walked out of the house with Randall he kept tugging on the collar of the t-shirt. He wished he had a safety pin or something. His collar bones were feeling really exposed.

“We’re walking again?” Randall asked as they went down the porch.

“I will send you,” Samantha Mason announced behind them. She struggled through the front door with a cardboard box. Moving quickly Connor went back up the porch and took the heavy box from her hand.

“Don’t worry, it’s my job,” Connor quickly said before she told him she could have managed. Samantha only rolled her eyes at him, fists on her hips, and pouting all the way as she walked with Randall to her new Toyota Camry hybrid car.

“You’re having lunch with Jake, right?” Jake’s mother asked very calm and smooth-like while she drove them into town. Randall was sitting in his booster in the back completely oblivious to the conversation. "Are you two dating?”

Connor choked on air and started coughing uncontrollably. Not that it has never happened before, but everyone always thought he was joking around. Samantha Mason laughed her sweet kind of laugh before turning the car into a mechanic shop’s parking lot. He was still in the middle of a spasm when Randall unbuckled his seatbelt and jumped out of the car.

“Pretty sure I would know if we were.” Connor felt the heat rising to his face, and there were too many factors to accurately explain why his face was red. “You’re meeting a client in town right? Be careful.” Connor opened the car door to get out but remembered the seatbelt. He sat back to unbuckle the belt and then got out of the car.

Rushing into the garage of the mechanic’s shop Connor scanned the floor for traces of Randall. As someone who has never been responsible for a child on his own, he didn’t want to have some workplace hazard be the reason Jake had any more reason to dislike him.

“Connie.” Connor quickly looked up to find Rand standing inside an office door. He waved Connor in quickly and disappeared inside the office. Connor followed and was relieved to find Randall sitting on one of the seats happy and ignorant as ever.

Rand was sitting behind the desk inside the tiny, cramped office. There were paperwork and shelves and drawers of items up against nearly all walls. Rand shuffled through some of the papers on his desk and brought up a stack he’d been looking for.

“We agreed that you would work for cash,” Rand had started to say.

“Yea, I’m not looking for permanent work.” The old man waved a hand down to the chair in front of the desk so Connor sat down. He had a feeling he was being put into an interview, and Connor really hated that idea. Truthfully, Connor didn’t have a very long job history because he hated interviews.

“Wouldn’t you like a permanent place here?”

Connor chuckled. “Would I like to be a chore-boy permanently?” Rand shook his head with a knowing smile as Connor laughed. “Old Man, I think I prefer being a wanderer.”

“Kids these days prefer having roots.”

Connor’s smile dropped immediately. He knew where he came from and he knew who his parents were. As for “roots” such as a place to return to whom also knew where that was. Travis would always be there for him to return to, even if that was with Michael Kahale. However, Rand was talking about roots as in planting himself somewhere and making that his home.

“Did I tell you I had family?”

“No.”

“I do,” Connor said quietly. Thinking of his brother and of Will helped him relax. This wasn’t an interview. It was an inquiry on his intentions. “My brother and I have always been together. We’re so alike that if he replaced me you probably wouldn’t even notice.”

“You two have a business together?” Rand asked. His face told Connor the old man was trying to understand where he was going with this. “Where is your brother?”

“We don’t have a business together.” Connor shook his head. He knew what career path his brother would take. “Travis wants to study languages. He’s planning to spend his life teaching languages. For now I think he’s volunteering in at an English as a Second Language school.” Connor could see the state of confusion sparked in the old man’s eyes. He was trying to understand Travis’ career path. Teach languages? Teaching English? As a second language? This small little town wasn’t too used to diversity it seemed.

“And you?”

Connor shrugged. “I don’t have any future thoughts.”

“You two are always together but your brother, Travis, is not here,” Rand pointed out as he sat forward on his cramped desk. Those old eyes stared at him deeply. “Are you planning your future based on his?”

“My brother is married. I wouldn’t want to intrude.” Connor thought to ignore the fact that Travis was married to a man.

“I see. You still haven’t answered my question.”

Old people were really to nosey sometimes. He hoped this wasn’t how he and Travis came off when they poked fun of others.

“Well?”

Groaning Connor gave up and answered. “I don’t plan to put my roots down anywhere, if you must ask. In fact, don’t put your hopes in it. My last bed partner was a man.” Sleeping practically nude in the same bed with Jake yesterday should count as a bed partner. Wait, the biggest problem was that he was admitting to being in a gay relationship in front of Randall.

He quickly turned around to see Randall staring up at him from the toy action figure in his hand. Connor didn’t want to look back at Rand Mason.

“Jake!” Randall jumped off the chair and rushed to Jake who was just about to knock on the open door. Randall stared up at Jake and Jake stared down at him.

“Okay,” Jake said as if knowing what Randall wanted telepathically. “Come on Connor.” Jake nodded his head towards the outside and turned to walk away with Randall.

Connor felt his face flush again. Jake in mechanics overall, his hair wavy from the oil he unintentionally brushed into his hair with his hand—too stimulating. Connor sat forward and took a few seconds to try and calm down. He covered his face with one hand and gripped the armrest with his other hand. How was Jake not married in this town? He was so good-looking it was almost illegal.

“So, you’re certain you’ve no plans to put roots down here?” Rand asked him.

“No.” His voice was quivering. Gods, he couldn’t go to lunch much less eat with Jake. He was too nervous to eat. He never felt like this before, not with his first girlfriend or even when he first had sex.

“I’ll ask again,” Rand warned him. Connor knew his answer would still be no. He needed to save enough for him to continue traveling. “For now, after you’ve had lunch help me by organizing this office. I can’t find a damn thing in this bird’s nest.”

“Okay.”

Connor sat there for a while long trying to put himself in a proper state.

“Get moving. Jake’s lunch break isn’t very long.”

“Okay.” Connor quickly stood up and moved. He got confused a bit looking for Jake and Randall. He noticed everything but focused on nothing. It was as if he was in battle mode.

Someone pulled him by gripping the back of his neck. Connor swung his elbow in reflex but their quickly stopped his attack. Jake glared down at him and then looked up at the car that was being lowered down. Connor would have probably walked right into the car and knocked himself out—or done something even stupider.

“Come.”

“Off for lunch Jake?” one of the mechanics shouted over the noise they were making.

“Don’t touch my car, Ralph,” Jake growled back at the man.

“Like you’ll know.”

“I will.” Jake pushed Connor outside the garage where Randall sat on a bench waiting. Jake unzipped the front of his overall and pulled down the sleeve, shedding the top from encasing his very nicely toned upper body. Connor looked away quickly, trying not to stare. He could hear Jake tying the sleeves around his waist. He could imagine the way Jake filled out that crisp cotton t-shirt that was underneath the overall, and he could imagine just the way it clung to his nice body from the sweat that had accumulated from his work.

“Connor!” Randall appeared in front of Connor. He excitedly grabbed Connor’s hand and dragged him along. Connor found himself walking side by side Jake as they both tried to match their steps with Randall. The boy stopped at an intersection, looked both ways and crossed the street with them. He then led them to a diner half a block down the road.

“Welcome,” a familiar cheery voice greeted them. “Ah, it’s you! Out together today?” Connor looked up and recognized the waitress from the pizzeria. He looked around quickly. He was definitely inside a diner. Seeming to understand the question in Connor’s reaction the girl explained to him, “I work here on the weekends, and work at the pizzeria four nights out of five during the week. I normally get Friday nights off.”

“I see.”

Connor still couldn’t quite stop himself from staring at her bosom. They weren’t exactly of enormous size but they were noticeable for some reason. Again, her she has one shirt button unfastened too low. Wait. Staring a little more closely Connor finally realized it wasn’t that she was unfastened a button but that the button itself had come off.

He followed the waitress to their assigned booth and slid all the way to the window. Gazing outside into the street Connor tried to think of a way where he didn’t have to eat lunch with them. His stomach was already doing back-flips and Connor had no idea what he could eat before he found a way to get away from these two.

Randall scooted into his seat in the booth across from Connor. Connor tried not to look at the boy because if he did then he would end up looking at Jake who was sitting down next to him.

“Here are your menus, and your waitress will be right with you,” the teenager—Casey—said. She left them the menu and walked off.

“Isn’t it illegal to be working in the same type of job as your first one?” Connor asked quietly.

“She’s a waitress at the pizzeria and a greeter and cashier here.” Jake sounded detached to the conversation right off the bat. That was the usual Jake. Connor could handle the usual Jake. He couldn’t handle the Jake that paid close attention to everything he did, the one that touched him or kissed him and felt obligated to care for Connor.

“She said she wouldn’t mind babysitting for you.”

“I see.”

“Jake,” Randall shoved the kid’s menu at Jake and pointed at the picture of a hamburger with fries. “Can I have the chocolate malt too?”

Jake sat for awhile pondering the question until Randall became quietly impatient. Randall glared at Jake finally and started slapping on Jake’s arm to get his attention.

“Okay, but no dessert later,” Jake sighed out. Randall nearly jumped in his seat if Jake hadn’t put a hand down on Randall’s neck to hold the boy down. “Now go wash your hands.” He picked Randall up under his arms and put the boy down on the floor of the diner. Randall rushed off towards the back of the diner to the restroom.

Connor tried to look out the window as naturally as possible.

“Come,” Jake grabbed Connor by the scuff of his neck once Randall returned from the bathroom. Connor let himself be dragged to and pushed into the men’s restroom. “Talk,” Jake demanded once he pushed Connor up against the wall. Unfortunately no one else was in the restroom or in one of the stalls.

“About?”

Jake growled at him, which wasn’t much of an answer. Jake approached Connor until they were both nearly pressing into each other. Connor closed his eyes tightly and tensed up. He wasn’t sure why but he suddenly understood why Travis had described being with Michael the first time as feeling like a little schoolgirl sitting next to her crush. Connor’s heart was racing so fast he wasn’t surprised if he was red in the face.

A callused hand touched the space between his shoulder and neck where it was exposed. Jake pulled at the collar of the shirt a little further down and Connor waited impatiently as the man touched the sore spot there. Then a hand covered his mouth just before Jake’s teeth sunk into the bottom of his neck where he’d been touching.

Breathing through the pain he couldn’t shout through Connor felt his eyes water. The spot Jake bit was the same spot Randall had bitten on and the area there was still sore. He grabbed hold of Jake’s shoulder, leaning into the man until his teeth left Connor’s skin.

“What the hell…” Connor cried into Jake’s shoulder. He rubbed his eyes against Jake’s hard shoulder to wash away his tears.

Jake sighed into Connor’s shoulder where he’d bitten Connor. Soft, sucking kisses were laid over the bite marks and sore skin as Connor waited for the pain to subside. He was still shaking in Jake’s arms.

They both washed their hands quietly as others began to pile into the restroom. Connor stared at the mirror, observing the way the bite marks turned red against his skin. It was noticeable because of the size of the shirt collar. He splashed cold water on his face and ran the excess into his hair. Looking into the mirror again he tried folding the collar so it would cover his collar bone at least. It seemed to also cover the bite marks if he did it but he didn’t have anything to hold the collar in place.

Jake was scrubbing off the oil from his fingertips with the paper towel when Connor glanced at him. What was he supposed to say in this situation? Did the Masons have a thing for biting people or was that just uniquely a son and father habit? The man in question turned to him with a raised eyebrow of question but Connor quickly looked away.

He touched his hair, examining the length as a way to avoid Jake’s inquisition. It was getting longer, he hadn’t cut it in almost a year. Considering the length, as he looked at himself in the mirror from the side, he could tie his hair up if he wanted. Connor started to leave as Jake washed his hands a second time. Two adults and one kid in a diner and both of them were in the bathroom. Connor didn’t need to think about his hair like some teenage girl, if anything he could just cut it.

But he won’t.

Sitting down at his seat Connor remembered the reason he had decided not to cut his hair at all in the past months. Normally he would have had Travis cut his hair a couple months ago before Percy’s wedding.

“Would you like to start with any drinks?” An older woman approached seconds after he sat down. Connor ordered water and then asked for Jake and Randall’s usual drinks, which happened to be apple juice for the boy and tea for the dad. Finding out that Jake drank hot tea for lunch was an interesting tidbit.

Once the drinks were brought to them, Jake was making his way to their booth. Randall was silently staring out the window and staring at the sky. To avoid Jake’s gaze or a conversation with the adult, Connor asked Randall what it was that interested him with the sky.

“Do you like looking at the clouds?”

“Uhhuh,” Randall nodded. “Sometimes he talks. Just sometimes.” Randall’s real father had to be a god, it would definitely something Connor had been thinking about. It fit the unfortunately predictable pattern. “Alethea likes the sky too.” Something those two definitely have in common, but another thing too. Connor was just wondering exactly why it was that Randall’s father was taking so long to claim him.

“Got your order?” Jake asked. Connor nodded but kept his gaze on little Randall. He spoke a little more to Randall about his friendship with Alethea and Ernest. Connor had seen the other two kids recently a couple weeks ago on separate occasions. It seemed that for Randall, unlike Alethea and Ernest due to be part of the Camps, the boy’s only connection to them were through letters.

It must have been difficult to keep in touch. Alethea was a little older and soon enough she would be hitting puberty. She would be living in a different world in a sense, going to junior high and thinking about boys. Connor didn’t like the idea of creeps trying to kiss Alethea or take advantage of her. He would have to pay close attention to things when she got to that age. On the other hand, Ernest who was of the same age as Randall was busy fighting a political power struggle even while under Nico’s sponsorship. New Rome, unlike Camp Half-Blood, was about rank and duty. Ernest was socially obligated to focus on other things.

The older waitress came by and asked for their order. Jake quickly told her what he wanted, and Connor did the same. Being a veteran she seemed to jot things as quickly as Connor and Jake had said them and walked off. He noticed Casey standing in position in from the door. She saw him and flashed a sweet smile.

They sat in silence for about five to ten minutes before their food was brought out to them. Randall attacked the fries immediately. Connor watched as Randall was half way done with his fries before thinking better of it and adding ketchup to the side of his plate to garnish the fries with. Connor stabbed at his leafy salad, mixing the ranch to his liking. When he looked up Jake was staring at him.

“What?”

“I didn’t think you were a salad person,” Jake admitted easily.

Connor felt heat rush up to his face. He was part insulted and part embarrassed. “It came with the sandwich,” Connor grumbled and looked out the window again. Jake shrugged as he scooped up some pasta shells onto his fork.

Connor stared at the menu some more since the waitress left one at his request. He finished his salad and flipped through the diner menu some more. For a small town to have a fusion restaurant was interesting, but the diner itself seemed to have been long established and the menu diverse with European dishes.

He put the menu away and when he looked up to grab his glass of water, once again, notice that Jake was staring at him. Connor tensed it instinctually and quickly zoned into his glass of water instead of Jake. He drank his water quickly and more or less gulped down his sandwich.

“Done,” Randall announced as Connor finished as well.

“Wash your hands,” Jake said, picking Randall up from his seat at the window and settling him onto the aisle. Connor got up and said he would go with Randall as he was done.

As he practically ran into the restroom with Randall the hiccups started. Randall washed his hands and as he was drying them with a paper towel stared up at Connor curiously. The boy seemed to want to ask Connor how he stopped his hiccups but decided not to ask. He did that thing where he stored the information away in his head for another time. Someday Connor just knew Randall was going to ask him a question that he didn’t want to answer.

“Ready?” Connor asked as he quickly dried his own hands with a paper towel.

“Yes.”

They walked back towards the booth but Jake was already finished paying at the register. Jake quickly turned them around, grabbing Connor by the shoulder and leading Randall by the hand out the door. Connor was spluttering about his lunch being paid for when Jake hissed in his ear to shut up.

“Ice cream,” Randall said as they walked by the small ice cream parlor next door. Jake waved Randall inside and the boy practically jumped at the door.

“I didn’t ask you to buy me lunch,” Connor grumbled. Freeing himself of Jake’s hold he stepped away and glared at Jake before casting his eyes downward again. Looking at Jake’s face was dangerous. Connor touched his lips, pinching the bottom with thumb and index finger. Looking at Jake made him feel things, and a lot of those feelings had to do with wanting to kiss Jake and to touch him, and seeing Jake look at him made him hard. He also felt different whenever Jake looked at him and it flustered him.

“I _asked_ you to lunch.”

“You told me to come to lunch with you.”

He knew he was being stubborn about a lot of things. Connor just didn’t want to admit that he felt embarrassed that Jake paid for him. He would have appreciated anyone else buying him lunch, but he felt like Jake doing it made Connor less desirable. To Jake it was probably just natural but Connor was a fumbling socially awkward guy like Travis the moment Jake was around.

A warm hand pressed against his face and Connor flinched back. He looked around to see if anyone saw what Jake did. Turning to Jake to ask him why he did that he saw the frustrated expression he’d seen Jake had in the Forge that night in summer when they were first together. It was a hard and desperate kind of expression—and Connor would never forget it.

“You never have to do anything you don’t want,” Jake said in a tone Connor recognized. Standing before him was the Jake that had been trying to masturbate in the Forge before Connor ran off. This was the Jake that had taken him. So then why did Jake look so hurt? It was as if he regretted something.

Not knowing how to respond to Jake’s words or his expression Connor said, “I want ice cream.”

For a moment Jake was shocked by the turn of the conversation but then his frown turned into a weak smile. He nodded and led Connor into the ice cream shop where Randall had already ordered his ice cream in a waffle.

Awkward and quietly, a sudden truce hanging between them, Connor spoke with Jake about his recommendation of ice cream flavors. Connor settled for one scoop of vanilla ice cream in a waffle cone while Jake and Randall debated over flavors. Jake ordered a small cup of chocolate mint and they all walked out with their ice cream in hand.

Randall happily led them across the street again to the back of the mechanics shop. There was a bench hidden under a tarp sheet leaning against the wall of the shop in the back. Randall sat down on one side and Jake immediately sat down in the middle next to the boy. He waved Connor over and pulled him down to squeeze into the other side of the bench next to Jake.

The bench had been out of place. It was an iron wrought bench, intricately designed and yet simplistic in shape. The item should have been in some fancy garden, not in the back of a mechanics shop.

“Go wait inside,” Jake said to Randall who’d finished his ice cream in record time. The boy leapt up and ran for the door five steps away, knocking hard and loud against the back door. It opened, someone greeted him, and then Randall went inside.

Connor had been hoping Jake would scoot over and give him some more space. The man stayed by his side and went on slowly eating his cup of ice cream. Having forgotten about his ice cream since the tarp’s unveiling of the out of place bench, Connor freaked out when he felt the melted ice cream dripping down his hand.

Grumbling a string of curses Connor quickly licked the ice cream off his hand and where it was dripping from. It wasn’t exactly summer but ice cream could only be out so long before it melted.

Suddenly Jake leaned into him and his mouth opened and closed over Connor’s ice cream. There was now a gaping hole where he had evenly eaten his ice cream cone. Connor stared at Jake’s mouth as the man was still leaning into him. There was a smear of ice cream just on his lip and then Jake did the most cliché thing. He licked his lips in such an attractive way that Connor’s heart nearly stopped. Then his heart got confused and panicked and Connor had to look away again. Not that Connor wasn’t already confused but now he was totally a blushing school girl.

“Why do you look away?” Jake asked.

“Well…” Connor could literally feel Jake’s presence looming over him. The man was even more closely pressed to him than before. “It’s—well, you know.” He shrugged and tried to brush it off.

Jake stood up suddenly. Tossing his empty cup into the nearby dumpster he walked towards the backdoor. Without a word Jake opened the slightly ajar door and left Connor there.

Exhaling deeply Connor made himself relax. He stared up at the sky and wondered what the hell he was doing. Not that Connor ever got over Jake, but he’d at least thought he’d gotten pass this fumbling stage of love. Travis was much the same when he first lived with Michael. He was very cautious but also very confused, but Travis had seemed to brighten with the way Michael lived routinely. Since Michael Kahale had never expressed a problem with Travis’ feelings, or for Travis’ obvious way of adoring the infuriating man, the two had lived rather peacefully.

This had to be different. Travis couldn’t have felt the same way Connor was feeling now. He was so confused he didn’t know what to do. He’d been rejected but Jake still wanted his body.

“This isn’t a fucking romance, Connor,” he admonished himself under his breath. Unlike Travis, Connor was often well aware of when he was talking to himself. It wasn’t a habit, but sometimes things just needed to be said for the brain to kick in.

Old Man Rand was probably waiting for him inside. His job details and such still needed to be talked over. Steeling himself for the level of awkwardness he was going to feel Connor stood up and marched back inside. Others passed him going on their own lunch break, but the man who had spoken to Jake before he left was yelling loudly over all the noise in the garage.

Standing with his arms crossed over his white t-shirt, Jake glowered at the man shouting at him even though they were standing right in front of each other. Randall stood by Jake staring at the exchange, and although he was clearly frightened his young eyes didn’t avert from the situation. He was doing that thing where he input in the information he collected into his brain.

“I don’t care if he’s Rand’s great grandkid or not!” snapped the man—he was sure his namew as Ralph. Connor walked over to them, his steps light and quiet so as to mask his presence. No one seemed to notice him drawing closer to them. “He shouldn’t be wandering up in the first place!” Ugly-blond Ralph pointed a wrench he held in his hand at Randall. Randall didn’t flinch, but the fear flashed in his eyes and Connor recognized it.

Moving closer Connor paid close attention to their surroundings. Rand was probably in his office, but everyone else seemed to be minding their own business. Jake stood his ground and just waited for the man to finish ranting.

“The little bastard-” And that was when Jake punched Ralph in the face. Everything stopped then as the man flew two feet backwards and knocked into a cart of tools. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up. “You fucking bastard!” Ralph stood up and spat out blood. Connor hoped he didn’t also lose a tooth, because there wasn’t much else going for this guy if his personality was this bad.

“What in God’s name-” Old Man Rand started to shout but Jake interrupted.

For the first time Connor heard Jake snap. “He’s mine!” He’d never see Jake so angry, but it was as if he was on fire. The rage and the anger engulfed him and Jake’s voice boomed through the silenced garage. “He’s my son!” Jake’s fists clenched tightly and his muscles bulged, and it was obvious to anyone that Jake was seconds away from letting loose. “He has me!” Then Jake stepped forward and grabbed Ralph by his neck, lifting him off the ground by three inches. “Don’t you dare mistreat my kid again!”

There was no indication Jake was going to let Ralph go and there were no signs of the man fighting back. Ralph looked as much as everyone else’s probably did—shocked. Jake Mason didn’t get angry or furious. He was subdued and quiet, rarely talking, and he sometimes walked around like there was a chip on his shoulder.

Connor made it to the two quickly. Everyone else was still too stunned. Ralph’s face was going from red to blue and any minute now he was going to struggle and flail because he needed air. Connor squeezed himself before Jake and Ralph.

“Drop him, Mason,” Connor whispered. Jake didn’t register him. He continued to glare at Ralph.

Putting a hand on Jake’s arm, wrapping it around the muscles that strained to keep holding Ralph up, Connor inched forward a little more. “Let him go.” Jake still didn’t, but he did seem to recognize that Connor was the one standing between them. “Jacob Mason,” he said under his breath. Connor leaned in and started listing, “Son of Hephaestus, former cabin counselor of Cabin 9, honored blacksmith of the-” He stopped when Jake finally dropped the man.

Connor quickly yanked Jake around and pulled him towards Rand and the main office. He could hear Randall chasing after them and feel the intense stares as people wondered how he made Jake stop.

“Get in,” Connor pushed Jake inside and then waited for Randall to follow his father into the office. He looked at Rand who stood on the other side of the door staring at him. Jake had squeezed through them both and sat down on the chair across the office desk. His shoulders slumped and head hung as if waiting to be reprimanded for his actions.

“So, you’re going to explain things?” Rand grumbled tiredly at Connor.

“I have no idea what happened,” Connor admitted. Then he looked at Jake and then at Rand. “And I’m thinking you’re not the best person to talk to him.”

“And you are?”

“Rand, have you ever seen the guy fight?” asked Connor. In all honesty Connor didn’t have much memory of Jake’s combat abilities either. He didn’t try to stand out. At the moment he could definitely class Jake at a level higher than Will’s. Probably somewhere just under Nico’s fighting abilities—excluding all the fancy powers.

Without Rand answer Connor walked inside. “I didn’t think so.” He waved Rand out the door. “And don’t worry, it’s my job.” Rand looked like he was going to argue but Connor decided to close the door on the old man as politely as possible.


	22. the New Guy

After closing the door he quietly walked over to the desk in front of Jake, forgoing the idea of sitting at the desk. The office itself was just too much of a mess. Instead Connor just leaned against the desk in front of Jake and sighed out heavily.

Randall was standing right next to Jake inspecting his hand. The boy seemed interested in the abilities his father had displayed earlier. He was probably trying to see if it was actually a metal arm covered in flesh. Considering Randall’s love for the wondrous mysteries of the world exhibited in the last couple of days it wouldn’t come as a surprise.

“Sorry.”

“For what?” Connor asked. “Also, don’t apologize for something you don’t feel you have to apologize for. What kind of dad shows their kid something so scary? Look at Randall. He’s completely fascinated by your hand now.” He made his tone light but his words critical and admonishing. For a moment Jake seemed disappointed in himself but then a small little smile lit up on his face. Then he dropped his head again and moved his hand away from Randall’s inspection. Randall actually seemed disappointed by the fact that it wasn’t really a metal arm.

“I hate this.”

“Hate is such a strong word, and to use it in front of a child too.” Connor continued to try to make Jake laugh or at least smile. He seemed to have broken down and not even Randall was reaching him.

He got Randall to relent and go out into the garage to stay with Old Man Rand for the mean time. Then he came back to the front of the desk, plopped down and leaned forward towards Jake. The stubborn oaf still hadn’t moved from his self-loathing state.

“Hey.” Connor snapped his fingers a few times at Jake. Jake didn’t seem to notice. “Hey, Mason.” He tried again. His patience was a short one. Connor started trying to shake Jake and even smacked him on the shoulder a few times.

Near the point of giving up Connor remembered Randall’s story. He had to be quick about it, although he wasn’t sure if in that state he could escape the repercussions.

“Don’t blame me later,” Connor sighed as he stood up and prepared himself. “And you owe me this anyways.” Connor quickly bent forward and chomped down on Jake’s shoulder.

A roar went out next to his ear just as Connor was trying to run. The next thing he knew he heard a large crash and found the air rushed out of him. Jake pressed him against the wall, papers scattered around him.

“Connor?”

“Yo.”

“The hell.” Jake let him go and took a step back. “You can’t just bite people.”

“You bit me first,” Connor reminded him. Jake rolled his eyes and turned away to sit down again. Connor went back to the front of the desk. “So, what happened? I wasn’t in the back long enough for a fight to have gone down with that dude out there.” Jake just shook his head.

Connor sighed. Why were things so difficult around a Mason? “Dude, you either tell me or you’re telling your grandfather yourself.”

“You’re not my father, Stoll.”

“I don’t think I want to be a god, so I’m glad for that.” Connor then quickly sent out an apology because he was pretty sure he just might have insulted all the gods. He wasn’t sure but he knew if Travis found out he would be sacrificing more than part of his dinner.

“Just leave me alone.”

“You should’ve said that yesterday,” Connor said under his breath. He didn’t know exactly why he was annoyed but he was.

“You’re the one always popping up in front of me,” Jake responded. He stared up at Connor with a look of quiet accusation. Connor decided the best reaction was to try to look sternly at Jake as he crossed his arms over his chest and gave a little huff. Jake stared at him without any reaction.

They both looked at one another waiting for the other to concede. Finally Jake groaned and relented. “Okay. Fine.”

“Good.” Connor wasn’t really good at being very serious unless he really had to be.

“He called Randall a bastard.”

“I was there.”

“No,” Jake said curtly. He looked into Connor’s eyes. “He called my son a bastard. To his face. Not ‘kid’ or ‘punk’ or something. Randall was sitting by the car I was working on and minding his own business, and the asshole just-” Jake stopped himself. Looking away Jake took a deep shuttering breath. He understood. Jake was hurt by that knowledge, knowing that others looked down on his son the same way they looked at him. Jake didn’t have a dad, and Randall didn’t have a mom.

“Okay. I get it. For now cool your head.” Connor didn’t want to seem as if he was sympathizing with Jake. He had to act impartial in front of Jake, but actually he was seriously pissed off. “I’ll handle this.”

“What?”

“Don’t worry.”

Connor stepped out of the office and closed the door. Jake didn’t follow him. Rand immediately and Connor quickly explained how Randall had been treated.

“Ralph has been pretty annoyed that Jake’s been getting more clients,” Rand admitted quietly. His hand rubbed at the back of his neck.

The way the Old Man looked a bit guilty in the eyes told Connor what he needed to know. He was getting a little older so he wouldn’t be able to handle as many clients as he used to. It was obvious he’d given his customers to Jake. After all Jake was his grandson, but any idiot would also have known that Jake was the best person. Everyone’s prejudices just kept them from seeing it. Connor hadn’t even been around long enough to even seen Jake’s work to know he was the best this shop had.

“Did you talk to Ralph?”

“He said he was telling Randall to get away from the car in case he messed something up and Jake came over and started a fight.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“Can I have your authority to handle this situation?” Connor asked.

“No.”

“I’m still going to do it,” Connor said as he stepped towards the center of the garage. Randall was obviously sitting by a neutral party. The person was small in size but also young, and he had Randall well occupied and out of danger as he worked under the car.

Connor grabbed a wrench from a tool cart and started banging it against the metal cart in rhythm. After a short time the constant noise finally won everyone’s attention and they stopped what they were doing to look towards him. He took a glance towards the main office’s door. Jake wasn’t there so the man was probably off in his thoughts again.

“Who are you?” someone asked from behind a car.

“Name’s Connor Stoll, I’m Rand’s personal assistant.” He nodded towards Rand who sighed out heavily and gave a nod. “The new guy.” He flashed a smile at everyone. “So I heard someone said Jake started a fight for no reason just earlier.” No one said anything until Ralph with a wet handkerchief on his cheek said “damn right”. Connor then turned to him and smiled. “But I heard there was a reason.”

“Fuck you mean-” Ralph started to say but Connor interrupted him.

“Randall!” He waved the kid over to him. Randall leapt from the overturn crate he was sitting on and came to Connor. “You tell me what happened before Jake punched Ralph.”

“Kid’s gonna lie,” Ralph growled.

“How’s he gonna lie?” Connor asked Ralph. “He has no idea what’s going on, all he knows if that Jake punched you in the face for something. Jake hasn’t been with Randall since I sent him out of the office. What could Jake have possibly told Randall to say?” Ralph just rolled his eyes and grumbled inaudibly against the whole thing.

“What happened?” he asked Randall again.

“Ralph was yelling. He said Jake didn’t have a dad and that I didn’t have a mom, and that the only reason Jake gets cars is because Pops gives them to him,” Randall answered. That was explaining it nicely. He was sure based on Ralph’s personality the man said it in a different way. “But Connor, you know,” Randall grabbed Connor’s hand and yanked at him. He even stood on his tippy toes as he said the next time. “Jake makes lotsa money you know, and it’s not from here. Jake told me once. He said he works here cuz Pops needs someone but Jake works REAL REAL hard at his other job.”

“Okay.” Connor smiled, feeling a part of him melt inside the way Randall was so innocently and so genuinely worried about the way others perceived Jake. “So, anyways, Randall just told me you were talking shit about your co-worker.”

“That doesn’t mean he can punch me,” Ralph snapped then winced. The pain on his cheek should sting.

“I think anyone waving a wrench at a child angrily should get punched in the face. You’re clearly a threat to that child’s livelihood,” Connor said as he put the wrench in his own hand back where he got it from. Connor was probably the worst possible person to be telling Ralph these kinds of things. “But let me get this straight,” Connor quickly changed the topic. He waved Randall back over to where he had been sitting earlier.

The young man moved closer to Randall, and Connor could see a sort of intelligence in him. The way he poised himself in front of Randall showed Connor he was the vigil sort, but in this kind of town there usually isn’t a reason to have your guard up or to be so cautious.

Connor stepped up toward Ralph and he whispered harshly into the man’s ear. “The next time I see you near my benefactor’s family I will personally make you pay.” He stepped around Ralph and pointedly stared at each of the men looking at him. “One by one, from the left to the right,” Connor shouted pointing at the large man on his left standing next to Rand and waving his hand toward the young man sitting with Randall, “Each of you will be talking to me starting tomorrow. One person per day, one hour per meeting."

“We’ve got work to do,” Ralph growled at him. Connor turned back to face Ralph as the man glared at him. “And you, you little piece of-” he started on Connor but he drowned out most of the words. “You can get the hell out.”

“You think because you can’t be replaced in this town?” Connor asked him. “What makes you so special? There’s seven other men here besides Jake. It’ll save this store a lot of money if we didn’t have an anger management case like you around.” Connor stepped up toe-to-toe with Ralph. Although he was slightly shorter and slimmer around the shoulder and waist, he knew this man wouldn’t last long in a fight. He sniffed at the man. “You don’t just have anger issues, you’ve got a drinking issue too. What, did your wife leave your pathetic ass?” Connor waited but he saw the anger flare. He was amazed the man hadn’t thrown a punch yet.

He scoffed and turned away. “I might be here part-time, but at least the boss has more use with me than he does you.” Connor shrugged and gave a confident smile at all the men in the shop. “Now why don’t you think very hard about what you’re going to tell me that’ll convince me you’re worth your paycheck?”

Just like that Connor backed into the office and closed the door on the men.

“What did you just do?” Jake asked with a groan. Connor turned around and saw Jake still sitting in front of the desk. He didn’t turn to face Connor but waited for Connor to walk around to the desk to face him.

“Threatened a bunch of townspeople that they were going to lose their jobs.”

Connor shrugged and tried to play it off. He might have embellished his responsibilities and authority but exaggeration had always been one of his best gifts. Connor prickled with the stare that looked at up him. Eyes that questioned and eyes the held a strange disbelief. He looked away first, afraid to see what was underneath those eyes.

Something came to mind and Connor snapped his fingers. “You don’t need to finish up that car yet, right?” Jake shook his head as Connor moved toward the door. He opened the door and looked around. Everyone turned their gaze on him again and silence rolled through the garage. “I’m starting with Jake. Be out in an hour,” he told Rand who was staring at him from his work desk by the wall.

“Alright.”

Connor closed the office door again. He moved around to the back of the desk and sat on the chair that Rand had been sitting on earlier. It wasn’t very comfortable but he also could tell from the piles of papers that Rand normally didn’t sit at the desk or in front of a computer for long.

Clicking his tongue Connor started to shift papers around for space. He opened drawers and tried to look through the files to try and find something to write on. He made a mental note to get a good notebook later. He found a pen under the stacks of papers on the desk but it was out of ink. Connor threw it across the room into the trash bin at the door. It made a loud noise as the pen hit the edge of the bin and bounced around until it fell in.

“Pen….” Connor muttered to himself. He moved the papers around on the desk some more and found a turned over penholder cup. He grabbed one of the pencils he found by the penholder and tested the pencil on the wrinkled paper he’d decided to write on. “Alright. Let’s get started,” Connor grinned at Jake.

Jake rolled his eyes, sighed and leaned back on the chair. “Start.”


	23. Wednesday is a Flirt

Connor spent the next three days working in the office of Rand Mason’s car mechanics shop. At first he’d thought of shuffling papers to organize later on the desk but it became apparent later on that it wouldn’t work out well. So he had office file boxes brought out and started by throwing them all in different boxes based on what kind of papers they were. Customer service papers were in one box, store purchases in another, and on it went until he had stacks of boxes. Afterward he went to cleaning out the cabinets.

A knock at the door registered but Connor focused on the file cabinets lined up against the wall. “Yeah?” he shouted back, preoccupied with the dusty old files. He moved the inside of his elbow to his face and sneezed as he turned around. Standing in front of him was the sixth man he’d met since he spoke with Jake. Instead of his earlier notion to speak with one employee per day, he had decided on meeting two of them per day.

“Yeah, sorry,” Connor coughed into his elbow. He waved the man named John to the chair in front of the desk. “Excuse the… uh…” Connor chuckled as he navigated around the piles of boxes and papers, “mess.” He sat in Rand’s uncomfortable old office chair and sighed heavily. He opened his laptop and logged into his account. He opened a new document and stared at the blank page for a second.

“So, uh…” John mumbled as brought his hands together into his lap. Connor pulled up the office chair and moved the laptop a couple centimeters closer to him on the desk. “How… how does this work?” John asked him, showing his over nervousness. He had oil marks on the back of his neck and on his arms from his nervous tick of often touching himself. “The other guys… uh… they said you… you just kind of… talk.”

Connor gave the nervous man a smile. “Yeap, just talking. So, tell me what you had for breakfast today.” Connor waited and listened. He constantly took notes and asked questions as he typed. He was sure John was nervous whenever Connor typed anything, and so would start mumbling more and talked faster. Connor let him go on until the hour was up.

“Alright, that’s it.” Connor stood up after saving the document on his laptop. He shook hands with John and thanked him for coming in. “Oh, John.” When John turned around to look at him where he was at the door, Connor reminded him with a smile, “Could you remind Ralph we’re starting with him tomorrow at eleven?” John nodded and opened the door and walked out.

Old Man Rand walked in without announcing and sat down on the chair John had vacated. He looked around at Connor’s progress and asked, “Anything else you need?”

“Food.”

“Lunch was two hours ago,” Rand reminded him. Then he pointed at the packed sandwich and bottle of juice that was left for him on top of one of the stacked boxes by the door. “You forgot.”

Connor rolled his eyes. He had asked Rand to leave it there, but he’d never been the kind of person who ate something constantly. Prepackaged turkey sandwiches three days straight for lunch? Connor was almost ready to scoff down Travis’ spaghetti.

“About dinner-” Rand started.

“Ah, I told you not to worry about dinner,” Travis sighed. He was a junk food kind of guy when it came to dinner. He also did not feel like sitting with Jake’s grandmother at a dinner table unless he had to. She seemed like the uptight judgmental type of old ladies no one wanted to be around.

“You go out every night and come back late, where exactly do you go in this town?” Rand grumbled. Connor gave the old man a roguish smile and raised an inquisitive brow. If Rand knew how to roll his eyes he probably would have. Instead the man scoffed some more. “I better not have angry fathers chasing you down to my house.”

Connor laughed and gave him a wink. “Boys talking to their fathers about who they’re seeing at night?” He shook his head and laughed.

“I know you’re into girls too,” Rand chuckled at him this time. Normally he took no nonsense from Connor, but it seemed it just took a little time to chip away at Masons. Connor was shaking his head but then Rand shook his own finger back at Connor. “You think I didn’t see the way you looked at that girl who came in the other day.” Connor rolled his eyes. He appreciated a good figure, that didn’t mean Connor was interested.

Connor sat in silence as he waited to hear what Rand came in for. The older man said nothing and so Connor started humming as he looked longingly at the Wi-Fi network bars on his laptop. The shop didn’t have internet connection. In this day and age it was almost impossible that there was no internet at the shop—private or public. Every store had Wi-Fi.

“You think I don’t see that same look when you look at my grandson?”

“What?” Connor coughed on the air.

This time Rand bellowed in laughter. “Don’t worry Connor,” the old man grinned at him. He didn’t think it was possible but the old man winked at Connor and it was almost like seeing Jake boyishly wink at him. “Jake told us the truth a long time ago.” He stood up and headed for the door.

Connor sat there stunned for seconds before snapping back to himself. “Wait…” Connor spluttered but Rand was already out the door. “What… Hey…” Connor groaned and gave up. He sighed and bang his head on the edge of the desk in frustration.

A couple hours later while Connor was deciding between throwing old files into the overflowing recycle bin or into a filing box another knock took him from his concentration. Connor looked up from reading over the old files and squinted from where he sat on the floor up at Connor. Jake was staring at him but Connor couldn’t quite see him.

Jake cleared his throat. “Shift’s done.”

Connor turned back to the paper. “Have a good day then.” He was reading through the paper when he felt someone sit down on the floor with him. A warm hand touched his cheek and he flinched away. Connor squinted at Jake who was leaning in to him.

“Randall has been asking when you will come over,” Jake softly said. His hands slowly reached over and took off Connor’s reading glasses. He’d forgotten he was wearing them. He normally didn’t need his glasses so he’d forgotten he was wearing them.

“He… uh…” Connor lifted his gaze up and realized how close Jake’s face was to his own. He stumbled over his words and felt the quiet tension between them. Connor could be misreading the atmosphere but he really wanted to kiss Jake. “I…” Connor lost the words in his head as he looked into Jake’s dark eyes. He looked down and stared at the words on the paper. The A’s turned around on him, and some of the letters mixed up but not all of them. His dyslexia had gotten better as he’d gotten older. For children of Hermes languages was pretty common so normally they were the first of many who could be “cure” of dyslexia.

Connor took in a deep, calming breath. “Randall told me.”

“And you said?”

Connor shrugged. “I didn’t want to promise him anything.” Connor put the file back where he’d found it and started to stand up. Jake grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.

“You feel awkward living with my grandfather.”

It didn’t come off as a question but as something Jake knew to be true. “A little.” He just didn’t like Jake’s grandmother.

“Come stay with us.” Jake’s fingers wrapped around Connor’s lengthy hair strands and pulled it behind his ear. Connor tightened his jaw and tried not to react to anything Jake did. The man’s hand moved from Connors hair down to his neck. He knew where Jake was touching him. It was the invisible bite marks left on his neck that had disappeared four days ago.

“There’s no room.” Connor turned his face away.

Jake chuckled. “My room is enough.”

“I don’t think that’s smart.” Connor felt himself shaking as he sat stiffly on the floor. He looked down at his lap. His hands were shaking from how nervous he was—that never happened before.

“And when have you ever done anything smart?” Jake laughed. He stood up and walked to the door. “I’ll be in the car. Come stay over.” Jake left just like that and Connor sat there with a numb butt from sitting on the floor too long.

He should definitely call his brother tonight. Definitely. He didn’t quite understand this love business. Not the way Jake played it. With Nico and Will it was pretty simple. The both of them just needed to be on the right wavelength. When it came to Travis and Michael, the only problem was the fact that Travis couldn’t imagine someone as attractive as Michael being into him. His brother was still dazed by his husband now and then. So what the fuck was Jake’s problem? One day he was subzero cold. The next he’s volcanic.

Taking in another deep breath Connor moaned as the blood started rushing through his numbed lower half. He laid on the floor helplessly as his bottom buzzed.

* * *

 

Jake sat in his car staring into nothingness. He’d wanted to kiss Connor so badly just earlier in the office. Connor had been wearing reading glasses, and gods that had turned him from an impish boy into the more adorable man alive. He didn’t remember Connor as someone who needed glasses, but he had also never seen Connor reading before either. Connor had seemed fine reading menus and such, so he wondered why the man needed glasses.

He sat in the parking lot until he saw Connor dragging his feet towards them. Randall started chattering a mile a minute asking whether or not Connor would be staying over. Jake let the boy go off with his questions until Connor opened the passenger door and sat down.

“Yes he’s staying the night,” Jake finally answered. Randall stopped asking and was quiet the entire ride back to the cabin. Connor was too after punching Jake in the arm for promising something he hadn’t actually said. Not that Jake cared. He’d barely slept the last three nights without being haunted by the thought of Connor up against his body. He was too exhausted to care at all.

Jake parked the car in front of the closed garage and stepped out.

“Jake!” Connor hissed, grabbing his elbow before he followed Randall up the porch steps. Jake turned to Connor but already expected the harshly whispered words. “I can’t stay here.”

“Rand packed your things,” Jake said. Connor did that deep breath groan where he was trying to hold back his irritation. Jake opened the trunk and pushed Connor’s stuffed backpack into the other man’s hands. “You’re staying here now.” Jake walked past Connor and walked up to the front door. He turned around and added, “I will drop you off when he has work for you.”

Connor groaned out loud. He turned around and rushed up past Jake into the house. He stomped his way up the stairs quickly and Jake heard a door slammed closed. Jake closed the front door and locked it before moving toward the living room where Randall was sitting on the couch.

“Is Connor mad?” Randall asked, staring up at Jake as he sat down on the couch next to him. Jake sighed out and wasn’t quite sure how to answer the question. “Does he not want to stay with us?”

“He’s not happy sharing a room with me,” Jake decided to answer quickly. If he wasn’t quick with an excuse Randall would keep asking him questions. He didn’t have the heart to tell Randall the many real reasons why Connor was sharing a room with Jake and now living with them instead of Rand.

“He can share a room with me,” excitedly, Randall announced.

Jake shook his head at Randall. “Your bed is too small. Besides,” Jake stood up and grinned down at him, “You’ll have to share your bed too.” Randall stared at him and frowned. It was very obvious sharing was a slightly difficult concept for the boy. As an only child he wasn’t used to giving many things up, and as a child who rarely had friends Randall didn’t quite know how to share what he did have.

“Will he stay forever?” asked Randall ever so innocently. It was strange how purely naïve Randall was despite knowing and experiencing some of the worse in people.

Jake crouched down to his knees and took Randall’s little hands in his. “No,” he answered softly.

Randall scowled. “But Thea gets her brother and Nico.” Jake could already see what was going on in Randall’s head. It was his concept of fairness rearing its selective intelligence. “Ernest gets Michael and Travis.” Jake chuckled, because that meant that Randall should have him and Connor. “Why?” came the simply question.

“Because you can’t decide these things for someone,” Jake sighed out. Not the way he decided Connor would stay with him. He knew that Connor would leave eventually, but he couldn’t hold back wanting to keep the man close.

“But I want him.”

Jake smiled and then kissed Randall on the head. “I know.” Jake wanted Connor badly. “But no.” Connor wasn’t his to take. He told Randall he could watch television for a bit before they prepared dinner with his grandmother and Randall excitedly smiled. He liked when he could help in the kitchen and sit on the counter and watch Jake or his grandmother Samantha cook.

Jake went up the stairs and took a hot shower. He was drying off when he looked out the opened door and saw Connor standing there frozen looking at him. Jake slowly took the towel and wrapped it around his body, watching the way Connor’s eyes trailed down his body and stared at his flaccid member and then trailed back up to his defined hits and his torso. Pride welled up even though he didn’t normally feel such a thing when other people gave him an onceover.

“You need to learn to lock the door,” the words escaped Connor in a soft tone. Jake scoffed and rolled his eyes. He put his fists on his hips and puffed his chest out for Connor’s benefit. The other man glared at him with eyes asking him if he was actually posturing. Jake winked at him and did the trick.

Connor stepped back with a gasp. Jake winked again.

“Your…” Connor’s eyes looked at his chest again. He stepped forward suspiciously. “Was that a trick or something?” Connor looked around as if trying to find invisible wires or something. “They couldn’t have…”

Jake felt laughter build up but he sighed it out. “Come closer.” He beckoned the mischievous rascal into the bathroom. Connor didn’t even think twice as he stepped in to see the trick closer. Jake made his pecs flex and bounce without moving again. Connor’s eyes widened and his hands grabbed Jake’s shoulders.

“Oh my god, do that again!”

Jake did it one more time.

“Shit this is unfair,” Connor groaned. He leaned down onto Jake’s shoulder and started mumbling to himself. Then he said out loud, “You’re making it really hard.”

Jake couldn’t help but ask the question, “It was already hard when I saw you.” Connor pinched him, unappreciative of the joke. He would have found it funny if he didn’t make their situation such a pain in the ass.

“Okay we’ve gotta talk!” Connor announced as he straightened to his full height. First he was looking up at Jake’s eyes and then he looked back to Jake’s chest. “Do it again.” Jake laughed.

“Do you want me to make them dance?”

Connor looked up at him with sheer wonder in his eyes. “Can you do that?” Jake couldn’t stop laughing at that point. He’d never thought Connor Stoll, infamous joker and bringer of mischief would find pec flexing interesting. It was like he was staring at Randall who just found out he could eat ice cream for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

“Sorry,” Jake quickly apologized when he saw Connor glaring at him with a little pout he probably didn’t realize he had. It wasn’t overly noticeable, but Connor was clearly stewing with displeasure.

“It’s not that funny.”

Jake tried not to laugh again. “It’s a little.” Connor denied it more vehemently. Jake laughed again. The reaction was exactly like how a child would respond. “Maybe next time I’ll give up a lap dance.” He moved around Connor and walked to his bedroom.

Connor didn’t realize he was doing it but followed him. By the time he realized it he was already very focused on Jake taking off the towel and putting clean clothes on. Jake was just zipping up his jeans when looked at Connor and saw the man’s mouth agape.

“Did you need something or you just wanted to watch the show?” Jake asked him very seriously. He tried not to laugh. Connor had been angry just earlier but faced with a naked person he seemed to lose all disagreements.

“Uh… right…” Connor couldn’t seem to find the words. Jake felt that strange flutter again. Pride. He was glad that he could make Connor react that way with just his body. “Right…” Connor turned toward the bedroom door. “Questions. Later.” He didn’t completely form a sentence but his meaning came across.

The rest of the evening past normally. Connor helped with making the salad while Randall glared at homemade meatballs for spaghetti. He couldn’t touch them yet so he stared at them as they cooled off from being baked in the oven.

Once dinner was set and they were eating everything was quiet. Jake didn’t have anything to say so he just waited for someone else to start the conversation. Connor didn’t say anything. His mother threw a quirked knowing smile at Jake’s way now and then when their eyes met, but otherwise did her best not to ask if he and Connor were dating. They weren’t. Randall hummed to his own tune and attacked his spaghetti and salad together. Connor mostly ate the salad before he started picking at his serving of spaghetti.

Once they were all done cleaning up, his mother had gone to bed and Randall was tucked in Jake stuck around downstairs. He checked the alarms and the locks, he made sure the windows were closed and the lights were turned off before he went back up the stairs. Most nights he didn’t do so much double checking, he knew his mother was vigilant about their safety. She raised him after all. The fact was that Connor was also in the house and will be for the duration of his stay in town.

He walked into his bedroom and he wasn’t exactly sure what he expected. He wasn’t expecting Connor to tackle him the moment he walked through the door. He hadn’t expected to be thrown onto his bed as Connor closed his bedroom door and locked it. He hadn’t expected Connor crawling on top of him either.

Jake didn’t struggle when Connor pulled off his shirt and threw it behind him toward the desk. He leaned on his elbow and watched as Connor hastily undid his jeans and pulled it down past his hips.

“I can’t believe you’re not wearing underwear,” Connor chuckled. His breathing sounded labored and his eyes were clearly dilated. Jake knew he’d been turned on earlier he had not thought Connor had found it so unbearable he was aggressively taking the lead.

Jake didn’t answer the question and Connor didn’t take out Jake’s hard member from his opened jeans. Connor had on one of Jake’s t-shirts and now that he was looking the man wasn’t wearing anything under the shirt. He sat on top of Jake bare, his member standing proud and hard. Jake sucked in a deep breath and held himself back.

“We really can’t…” Connor gasped. Contrary to his words Connor was already moving his hips on top of Jake. Connor’s hands ran down Jake’s hair and clutched to the short strands. His hips moved slow but with thrusts. “What if…” Connor bit down on his lower lip and moved his hands to hold onto Jake’s shoulders. He started moving his hips in a different motion, a little harder with a change in rhythm. Connor’s eyes were closed as he leaned toward Jake. It was clear Connor was trying to reach his climax but he was fighting the fact that he was in the cabin with Jake’s family sleeping in the other rooms.

This was outside of Jake’s realm of experience as well. He’d never brought a bed partner to his own bed before. He also hadn’t thought about how it might feel awkward with Randall and his mother in the other rooms. Jake held himself back and let himself ride and move with Connor’s movements.

Connor opened his mouth and gasped out as he moved against Jake with another change in rhythm. Jake could see the frustration on Connor’s face even with his eyes closed. Jake could see the problem. The tension was building but it wasn’t going any further from there. He grabbed Connor’s hips and stopped him.

“What?” Connor opened his eyes and looked at Jake. Jake gently shushed him and changed the way Connor was riding him. Jake moved one of his legs out from Connor and bent it forward. He put Connor’s hand on his knee, his hand on Connor’s waist pulled the man closer until their crotches met in entanglement. The position made it seem as if Jake was the receiver and Connor’s shocked gaze told him he never thought Jake would give him that power. He pulled Connor tightly closer to signal for him to move.

With his jeans the only barrier between them Jake let Connor move against him. Eventually Connor was so lost into the motion and the struggle he didn’t notice what he was doing at all. Before long he wasn’t just bending Jake’s knee, he was guiding it to spread further open. Connor was leaning in until it wasn’t just their crotches touching but their bodies pushing against one another. His ministration had become harder thrusts as he gasped against Jake’s ear.

Before long Connor was riding against Jake’s body trying to find his climax. He leaned in and moved Connor’s hands from where they were and guided them above his stomach. That also didn’t take long for Connor to press his hands down on his muscles. He was so lost in looking for his pleasure that he didn’t seem to care that Jake was taking over.

Jake moved Connor’s legs around his hips. At first it seemed to bother Connor, he stared down at Jake was crazed eyes full of lust. He wasn’t quite focus, he was breathing and sitting on top of Jake again with his body jerking now and then trying to seek out pleasure. Jake gently shushed him again to sooth his need to ravish Jake.

Jake laid down on the bed and for a moment the image of Connor sex-delirious on top of him made him even harder than he had been earlier. He refused to take his cock out of his unzipped pants. There was a reason Connor had wanted it done like this. This was Connor’s way of controlling the situation when his instincts wanted him lost in carnal pleasure.

His hands on Connor’s hips he started moving. Connor gasped on top of him as he moved Connor against his body, guiding the way Connor rubbed against him and thrusted. He held Connor still when he tried to thrust harder or more, only letting the man move the way he wanted. Connor pressed down on him and gasped breathlessly. His sweat fell on Jake as they moved together in union.

“No,” Connor groaned when Jake moved Connor against him faster and more frequently than he had earlier. Connor bit down on his lips as he threw his head back and rode on top of Jake. Jake make Connor press down on top of Jake as hard as he could and grinded their bodies together until all that was created between them was friction and the tension that had Connor gasped harshly on top of him.

Connor made a quiet grunting noise in his throat as he shot his load over Jake’s body. He leaned against his hands pressing down on Jake and gasped for breath. Jake could see that although Connor had climaxed he wasn’t satisfied with the act. Well, Jake wasn’t exactly satisfied either but it wasn’t as if he could do more.

He moved his hand from Connor’s hips and put his hands around Connor’s shoulders. He slide his hands down Connor’s arms onto the man’s hands. Well someone’s hips were going to feel sore tomorrow and someone was going to have spread out blobs of bruises on the front of their body.

Jake moved Connor’s hands from his body and wrapped it around his body. Instead of cleaning up he let Connor lie on top of him and fall into an exhausted sleep. Afterward when Connor was more soundly asleep he would clean up and put the mischievous little imp under the covers. Then he would figure out a way where they could be alone.

Jake had just wanted Connor close so he could sleep. Now he found Connor and he couldn’t stop their need to sexually gratify the other. Closing his eyes to try and sleep he just knew he was going to regret allowing their temporary flirtation.


	24. Thursday's Warning

Jake was between the veil of sleep and waking up with a lot of confusion. He blinked a few times but it was still dark. A felt lips on his neck and collarbone. His bed partner was a strange one if they were suckling him. Jake heard a strained growl just before his collarbone was bitten.

Now fully awake Jake looked about him. This was his bedroom. It took a moment for Jake to realize who was moving on top of him, nipping and suckling his collarbone, and their hands feeling up his body with a hard grip.

“Connor?” Jake croaked. He moved up a hand and pressed it against Connor’s side. It took another moment for him to realize through the panting and the desperateness that Connor was still asleep. Or mostly asleep. He didn’t know he was doing this, but some part of him was seeking out sexual relief in the middle of the night.

He had a feeling waking Connor up would only make the man embarrass. Jake decided instead to help Connor with his primal need. Wrapping his arm around Connor’s waist Jake hefted Connor up against him. Jake squeezed his free arm between them and took his cock out of his sweats. For some people sweatpants made it easier for them to do this sort of thing, for Jake it was actually quite uncomfortable.

Connor was still in one of Jake’s t-shirt since the one he wore earlier had been smeared with cum. Jake felt the way Connor moved against him, it wasn’t knowingly. He was rubbing against Jake but he was asleep, so it was a part of Connor’s mind that wanted it but he was entirely unaware of actually doing. There was no finesse to it, because Jake knew Connor’s rhythm wasn’t so simple.

Jake slowly took the lead by moving his hips slowly against Connor’s body. He waited until Connor’s urgency turned into responding to the slow rhythm he had created. He wrapped his hand around his and Connor’s erection and moved his hand in response to Connor’s thrusts.

It was a while before the sleeping Connor stopped sucking on Jake’s collarbone and gasped. Jake held very still as Connor climaxed and shot all over Jake. He sighed out and moved Connor to the side where he had been sleeping before. Jake carefully moved out of bed and took off his t-shirt. He sighed one more time and tried to calm down his nerves. Sex with Connor Stoll was pretty much the same as being sixteen and getting pranked by him. Only Connor got to enjoy it.

Oddly enough Jake liked the fact that Connor melted against him. Jake looked down at his sweats but decided that didn’t need to go into the laundry basket either. He moved away from the closet and stared down at his bed. In matters of seconds Connor was curled up in the middle of the bed with Jake’s pillow clutched against body. Jake fought the urge to groan and sighed out again.

He walked around the bed and got in on the other side of the bed. He pressed himself against Connor’s back and pulled Connor’s pillow under his head. Connor naturally found Jake’s arm underneath him and found the most comfortable position to sleep against Jake. Jake closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

When morning came Jake was out of bed just as the sunlight was starting to come through the window. At least he tried getting out of bed but was impeded from his morning routine as Connor was pressed up against him—and sleeping on his arm. Jake ran his other hand over Connor’s hair and waited until Connor moved in his sleep. Jake moved his arm from under Connor’s head and quickly pulled the pillow under Connor’s head.

Connor was still clutching Jake’s pillow. For a minute he stood there and just stared at Connor curled up in the middle of his big bed, Jake’s pillow snuggled close to his center, and wondered where the imp picked up that sleeping habit. Then he shook his head and tossed the thought out of his head before heading to his closet. He found a clean t-shirt and tied on his running shoes. Jake grabbed his ear bud and music player before quietly stepping out.

He had his morning run, which included checking the perimeter of their property to see if any monsters had been caught in his traps. Jake normally had a doe or a fawn stuck in a net or caught in a cage. Once he had to carry a fawn over his shoulder out of a pit. Since then Jake had filled up his pits and stopped using them as traps. He wouldn’t want some campers to wander off and fall into the pit he’d dug.

This morning there weren’t any triggered traps or alarms that have gone off. Jake finished his morning run a little earlier than usual and returned to the house. Once inside he found his mother was already in her workshop. Jake knocked on the threshold of the door and watched as she looked up from the woven basket she was working on.

“Yes, sweetheart?” His mother’s gentle voice made Jake smile. Especially the endearment, as Randall inherited “sweetheart” from him long ago. She walked to him and smiled expectantly, Jake simply smiled back.

“I’m going to make breakfast,” Jake told her. Samantha Mason kept her smile on her face and told him to scramble the eggs. She was an amazing woman, his mother, but she wasn’t very smooth about her obvious desire to see Jake together with an eligible person.

“So?” she finally asked, which wasn’t really a question but more of an open-ended prompt.

Jake turned back to her before leaving. “So?” he parroted.

Samantha rolled her eyes. Jake smiled at his mother. “Come on Jake,” Samantha harshly whispered at him. “He’s a nice boy.”

Jake almost burst into laughter but held that back in check. Instead he heaved a breath and smiled. He couldn’t help chuckling as he tried to hold back the laughter that threatened to attack him.

Her fists on her waist his mother projected in her very unusually stern Mom voice, “And what is so funny?”

Jake shook his head at her. “Connor Stoll is not a _nice_ boy.” Jake fought back a laugh again. His mother asked for an explanation by glowering at him. Finally calming the laughter but unable to help but smile as he told his mother, “He’s a menace.” Anyone who didn’t keep Connor cautious and confused was liable to be the victim of a prank eventually. It was why Jake had been careful during his time at Camp never to be too close to the Stolls. It was also why Jake kept away even though he’d been extremely attracted to Connor during his teenage years. If Connor had known during then what Jake still felt now, he was certain the man would have made light of it as a joke.

“Morning,” someone yawned behind Jake. He turned around and found Connor rubbing his eyes and walking toward Jake down the hall. He felt all the blood in him rush downwards.

“I see,” Samantha said in a voice of amusement. Jake felt his ears burn at the unsaid words he could hear his mother say. _“A menace.”_

Yes, Connor Stoll was definitely a menace.

Jake rushed forward and picked Connor up over his shoulders. Connor suddenly started shouting but all Jake could hear was his mother’s gentle laugh. He ran up the stairs and set Connor down on the bed.

“What the hell Mason?” Connor snapped.

Jake threw open his closet and grabbed a pair of sweats. He threw it at Connor and then looked down the hallway to see if Randall had woken up yet. He sighed when he realized a small bodied child in custom-made Winter Soldier pajamas wasn’t walking around just yet.

“Oh,” Connor gasped when he realized he wasn’t wearing any pants. “Oh god!” Connor shouted in horror.

Jake sat down next to Connor on the bed. He didn’t know how to handle this embarrassment so he put a hand on top of Connor’s ruffled hair and sighed loudly. Connor slipped on the large sweats and buried his face in his hands.

“You were really out of it last night,” Jake said. Connor glared at him and Jake realized that had been the wrong thing to say.

“Yea,” Connor said in a low growl as he continued to glare at Jake. “It’s your fault I’m so fucking horny.” Jake hadn’t expected. He stared at Connor in confusion. Sure he was attractive, but Jake didn’t have the best or most social personality.

Jake had a lot of flings and one-night stands in the past, but that was also because most people wouldn’t be able to stand him for very long. Randall’s mother had been a fling, and she often commented at the time how awkward Jake was. In college Jake tried a relationship with a girl but it didn’t last very long because she said he hardly ever talked about himself and only paid attention to her when she asked him to go out or do things.

Connor was looking a lot angrier now because Jake hadn’t responded. As someone who had known him since his younger years he always thought Connor understood that Jake wasn’t exactly sociable. He tried to be but those usually went into really odd conversations and so Jake rarely ever tried talking. Of course he did talk, but he didn’t really _talk_.

“You confuse the fuck out of me Jake!” Connor snapped. He grabbed Jake by the collar of his shirt and yanked him close. He then started shaking Jake back and forth out of frustration. “Just what the hell do you want from me?”

Jake couldn’t quite answer since he was being shaken back and forth. Connor went on to cursing and yelling at Jake about a lot of things that made no sense to him really. Connor might not have even realized he was switching between languages. Some of the more frustrated and obscene description of wanting to hurt Jake was said in Greek.

Connor was sitting on top of Jake breathing heavily when the sound of little feet ran echoed from the hall. Connor’s wide eyes showed the realization that he had just broken down in anger and that Randall might just run into the bedroom and see them like this. The man quickly slipped off Jake and buried himself face first into the bed.

Just as expected Randall first peeked into the bedroom at the door. When he found Jake leaning up, Randall burst through the doorway and leapt up. He barely just made it and grabbed at Jake’s knee to pull himself up onto the bed. Jake saw the struggle and lifted his knee up, letting Randall slide down his thigh and roll over his stomach in laughter.

“Do it again!” Randall laughed as he sat up on Jake’s chest.

“No thanks,” Jake grinned. He picked Randall off his chest and set him on Connor’s back.

“Morning Connie!” Randall greeted Connor by running his hands through Connor’s lengthy hair. Connor grunted and shifted onto his back, rolling Randall over onto the pillows. For a moment Jake stared at the two and etched the image inside for his memory to keep. Strangely enough he liked that Connor didn’t mind that Randall called him “Connie” and that he was so easily familiarizing himself to Randall. Normally Jake was very careful who Randall came to trust and take into his life, but at this moment Jake didn’t quite seem to care. He _wanted_ Connor there even if it might hurt when he left.

Connor grunted again when Randall leapt from the pillows on top of his stomach. Jake got off the bed and picked Randall off Connor. He set the overexcited boy on his feet and told him he had to finish getting ready for the day.

“I’m making breakfast,” Jake told Randall.

Randall frowned up at Jake. “Eggs?” he asked. Jake fought back the smile and nodded sternly. “Okay,” he said with a hint of disappointment in his voice. Jake watched Randall slowly walk away, taking deliberate time with each step.

“What was that about?” Connor asked.

“Eggs,” Jake answered.

* * *

 

 _Eggs_ , he said. That really explained a lot. Samantha had requested he scrambled the eggs too. Connor watched Jake walk out the bedroom and heard him head down the stairs.

A thought came to mind. It couldn’t be that Jake couldn’t cook like Travis? He shook his head and lodged the thought out of his mind. That couldn’t be it. Couldn’t be.

Before he knew it Connor was in and out of the shower, barely dried and pulling on clothes. He stopped himself when he was about to rush into the kitchen. He stopped, took a deep breath and tried to calmly walk into the kitchen. Connor felt self-conscious the moment he walked onto the tiled floor. It was as if he was stepping into some ballroom and invisible members of high society was staring at him.

Then there was Jake out with a wok at the stove. He moved around quickly and efficiently, completely focused the same way he was when it came to working on one of his creations. Connor gingerly sat on the stool in front of the island instead of the kitchen table. He stared at the cutting board with different vegetables cut up.

Jake didn’t even notice him as he turned around from the stove to pick up the rice in the Tupperware next to the cutting board. Connor watched him turn back to the stove, dump the rice into the wok, and stirred. He briefly wondered if Jake was making fried rice but the man didn’t add in the beaten eggs sitting on the counter next to the stove. Oddly enough he added tomato paste into the stirred rice and Connor then became very concern with the tastes of the Mason family.

The man took a taste of the tomato paste rice and carefully seasoned the rice glob to his preference. Once he was satisfied with that Jake removed the wok from the fire and lowered the flame. He took a frying pan from a drawer and set it on the fire. The pan looked about eight to ten inches wide. Connor wondered what Jake planned to do with the dozen so eggs he had beaten in large bowl by the stove.

Jake waited for the butter to melt on the pan before he poured a good amount of the beaten eggs to cover the cover of the pan. He patiently waited for the eggs to slightly cook before he started to swirl the egg mixture in the pan with his plastic spatula. He gingerly did the process until there was a fluffy and still cooking omelet settled entirely over the area of the pan.

The next thing Jake did took Connor by surprised. Jake served the rice on top of the still cooking egg omelet in the pan. Then he took the pan off the fire and swung around as he began to fold the sides of the omelet over the rice. Connor watched in all as Jake made a nice fold of two sides over the rice before he took a plate and put it on pan. Jake flipped the pan and the plate upside and the omelet came clean off the pan, the rice covered inside the omelet like some kind of strange wrap.

“What…” Connor croaked out and stared as Jake took a paper towel over the wrapped rice omelet thing and began to try shaping the unfolded ends of the omelet into something of a tip. “Zeus, what is that?” Connor said without thought. It was an omelet—an omelet wrapping tomato fried rice. He didn’t realize how intensely he was watching until Jake looked up at him and their noses touched.

“Sorry,” he quickly apologized and sat back on the stool. He watched Jake repeat the process three other times. The second and third omelet slightly ripped in the middle when Jake flipped the pan over the plate. One all four omelet things were on the counter Jake uncapped the bottle of ketchup he left on the counter. Just then Randall ran into the kitchen, his little bare feet plopping down on the tiled floor.

“Jake!” Randall squealed. He ran to Connor and grabbed onto his leg. Connor took that as a command to sit on his lap, so Connor picked Randall up onto his lap.

“Yes Randall?” Jake asked, concentrated on the shaped omelet in front of him.

“My name! My name!” Randall clapped his hands excitedly. Then he was quiet and watched intensely as Jake started to squeeze ketchup out of the bottle. Without looking Jake picked a toothpick from somewhere on the counter and started decorating the top of the omelet by using the toothpick to draw with the ketchup.

“Whatever is okay for me,” Samantha announced from behind them. Jake put down the bottle of ketchup and took the plate with Randall’s name on it to the table. Randall scrambled out of Connor’s lap to the table and quickly sat down where Jake set Randall’s omelet. Then Jake pulled out a chair for his mother and seated her.

“Sit,” Jake said to him in passing. Connor rolled his eyes at being ordered and moved to sit across the table from Samantha. Jake came with all three plates in hand and Connor watched as he had one plate perfectly balanced on his forearm. Jake quickly set the table and sat down, Randall had already started eating.

“Juice!” Randall announced.

“Water.” Jake pushed the glass of water back at Randall. Randall scrunched up his face in defiance but Jake seemed unbothered.

“So what am I eating?” Connor decided to interrupt the flow of the conversation. Randall was still in the process of accepting his dad’s decision on the matter of what his morning beverage would be.

“Omurice,” Jake answered. “Google it later.”

“It’s really good,” Samantha assured him. Connor glared at his plate and then at their plates. He looked at the swirl of ketchup on top of the omelet wrapped over the rice. “Eat before it gets cold,” she then urged him. Connor picked up his spoon and pushed down the edge of the spoon into the something-rice. He took a bite and took in the flavors.

The mixture of tastes filled his mouth. The sour tinge of the tomato paste with the texture of cooked rice and the crunch of the vegetable and the pieces of chicken in his mouth. It was a strange fit and taste. The egg and ketchup seemed to give it the blend in well. A strange saltiness mixed in with the sweet sourness was a foreign but familiar taste.

“So you can cook,” Connor beamed happily. He was relieved that Jake could cook. While Connor knew some simple dishes it would have been horrifying to realize Jake’s cooking was at Travis’ level of monstrosity.

“That’s a given,” Jake mumbled. Connor wasn’t sure what Jake meant by the comment, but Connor took it as the end of the conversation. Perhaps Jake thought Connor had assumed Jake couldn’t cook because of the idea that only women cook. It wasn’t exactly that he was questioning Jake’s masculinity, just his competency.

They ate quietly, with Samantha and Jake talking about their plans for the day. Apparently Samantha would be driving out into another town for some of her material and would be back later at night. Jake assured her he would handle dinner and leaving her something to eat before she went to bed. Connor wondered exactly what it was Samantha was working on now. He also wondered exactly what Jake worked on in his workshop.

When they were finished eating Connor quickly volunteered to do the dishes. Samantha tried to argue with him but he shooed her away. This was his job after all. While he lived with them rent-free he might as well help with the household chores. He did the same over at the Old Man’s home it wasn’t any different simply because Jake made Connor move houses. Samantha threw her hands up in the air in mock frustration and left the kitchen.

“You’re going to spoil her, you know.” Jake leaned against the counter next to sink but faced the other way from Connor. Connor ignored his presence and started the water. “Scraps go in that bucket,” Jake pointed across the sink. Next to Connor sat an ice cream bucket with a generic thank you bag stuffed in it. “We keep chickens.”

“You have pet chickens?” That was perhaps one of the wildest things he never expected Jake to say. Jake leaned toward him so closely all Connor could see were those deep blue eyes staring right at him.

“Not pets.”

Jake’s lips inched closer. Normally Connor wouldn’t back away from playing chicken with someone, but he quickly looked away from Jake. The smart decision was to be careful. When it came to Jake it was like playing with fire. He was different from the guy he remembered at Camp Half-Blood.

“Okay,” Connor mumbled. He scrapped what little leftover were on the plates and ran them under the water.

“Do you have strange sleeping habits?” Jake asked him.

Connor glared at him from soaping the plates. What the Hades was he talking about? Connor had perfect sleeping form. He didn’t have any weird ticks like Travis either.

“So, no.”

“No.”

Connor finished soaping the dishes quickly. He started rinsing the dishes when Jake hummed. The man started to leave when Connor wondered exactly why Jake asked. Before he could think about it he grabbed Jake and asked him why he asked about it. Jake stared at him without an answer.

“What did I do yesterday?”

Jake smiled.

“Dude!”

Jake leaned over and whispered into Connor’s ear. “Next time you tease me I’m sticking it in.” Connor blinked and then stared as Jake walked out of the kitchen. What the hell did that mean? He thought over yesterday’s events and felt heat creep up on his face. That happened alright. It definitely happened. How many times did he let that happen?

Connor was suddenly very aware of the fact that he definitely _owed_ Jake Mason his ass. Literally.


	25. Family Lunch...?

Jake inwardly groaned as he saw a shiny SUV pull up to the garage. Most of the time people made appointments, but sometimes there were tourists or just people who traveled who dropped in. Unfortunately he recognized the figures in front of the car. Jake quickly started toward the individuals before Ralph came back from a smoking break. Randall was sitting in a car with Ryder, the new kid from the city. At least that’s what everyone liked referring to him as, but Ryder had moved to town over a year ago. He was also the only person Jake trusted to help watch Randall in the garage and Randall had picked up on it, because he rarely ever strayed far from either Jake or Ryder.

“Mason,” Michael Kahale shook his hand. Jake was aware everyone had quietly stopped what they were doing to watch the exchange. While Jake had grown tall and muscular in his time away at college, Michael was even taller and buffer.

“Stoll,” Jake glared at Travis.

“Where’s my brother?”

His grandfather was still speaking with Connor about what he figured out in the last few days. Jake glanced over at the closed door of the tiny office.

“Working.”

“Connor? Actually working?” Michael commented with a grin as he leaned back onto his SUV. Travis did a very dramatic eye roll and grumbled. Apparently the travel from Minnesota had afforded them too much time together in close quarters. Michael seemed to dismiss the act and kept on taking to Jake. “So exactly what does Connor do?”

“Get fucked by Jake,” came Ralph’s grumble behind Jake.

Jake only blinked and Michael suddenly was no longer standing next to him. He turned around to find the bigger man being held back by Travis Stoll, just in front of Ralph. Ralph started with another long winded angry but strangled rampaging monologue, but Jake ignored that. Randall was already rushing to them happily calling out to Michael Kahale and Travis. Jake quickly caught the boy under the arm and picked him up off the ground.

“Randall,” Jake shushed him quietly. “Go back to Ryder.” Randall pouted, ready to argue, but Jake smiled and set him down on his feet toward Ryder.

“What’s going on here?” his grandfather walked out of the office with Connor.

Travis was speaking quietly into Michael’s ear, Jake could only assume it was to make him let go of Ralph. Jake caught Connor’s wide-eyed gaze and crossed his arms to his chest, then waited for the man to understand what Jake wanted. It didn’t take long for Connor to roll his eyes before stepping up.

“Mike, you let go of him before I kick your ass,” Connor snarled angrily. Michael turned his head slowly and apparently glared back at Connor without response. Connor reached for his back, and from somewhere Jake couldn’t see, he pulled out a dagger.

“Connor!” Travis yelled, quickly moving between Michael and Connor. Connor stopped but he didn’t put his blade back. Travis deemed Connor safe and turned to Michael. “Michael, let that annoying man go.” Michael took a minute, he snarled at Ralph and then threw the man into David who was almost six feet away.

“Inside.” Jake grabbed the two visitors by their shoulders and pushed them toward the office. “Sir,” Jake nodded his head to his grandfather. His grandfather told Ralph to leave early and ordered everyone to get back to work before following Jake inside with the others.

“What in God’s name was that about?” his grandfather snapped once he closed the door.

“Travis Stoll and Michael Kahale,” Jake quickly introduced the two who stood in confusion in the mess of the office. “Travis is Connor’s older brother.” His grandfather was glaring as if he was trying to figure out which one was Connor and which one was Travis. “They’re not twins,” Jake clarified.

“I can see that,” his grandfather sighed out.

Jake knew this was where he was supposed to explain, but he had no explanation. He glanced at Travis and Michael, but the two were busy with their glaring contest with Connor. The stubborn menace had his arms folded to his chest, feet set apart, shoulders hunched and a scowl on his face. The man was stubborn alright, and he didn’t plan on changing whatever he’d already decided in his head.

“Connor.”

“What?” Connor snapped. Jake smacked Connor on his shoulder. With another exaggerated sigh Connor rolled his eyes and turned to Rand. “I haven’t spoken to my brother and his stupid husband for the last couple months so they decided to track me down.”

“ _Four_ months,” Travis snarled back at Connor. The little menace shrugged with a roll of his eyes as if this wasn’t a big deal. Even by Jake’s standard that was a relatively big deal. “What if you were dead? A cyclops could have eaten you or something! Or you were stuck in some stupid drug ring like Michael said!”

“I was joking,” Michael huffed.

“But you said they were real!”

“Okay, stop.” Connor calmly waved his hand in front of his older brother and Travis took in a deep breath. “What did you do to my brother?” Connor turned to Michael. Michael shrugged. Jake felt exhausted just watching this exchange. If he could remove himself from the entire situation—this family—he would. “He’s _never_ this freaked out about anything but you. What did you do? Why’s he so afraid I’m going to jump off some cliff or something?”

“Because he’s afraid you might jump off a cliff or something,” came Michael’s evened tone. Jake inwardly groaned. He didn’t need the melodramatic prone Stolls brothers and their antics right now. Michael wasn’t being very helpful about it either.

“But why?”

With that question the silence held. Jake brought himself to look and turned their way, noticing right away how Michael was quietly looking right at him. It took a minute but Connor noticed who Michael was looking at, and instantly his entire face burned up.

“How is this my fault?” Jake asked, knowing when he was being pointed and accused for something. He was used to being stared at by others, and this wasn’t much different.

“It’s not!” Connor quickly spoke up. He grabbed Jake and then Rand and started pushing them toward the door. Rand protested, as it was his office. “Yeah, well right now it’s my job to clean it up isn’t it? Can’t really do that when you’re all in here!”

Jake went without a fight. Although he knew the conversation had to be about him, he didn’t really want to know why. Jake went back to working on the car he was on. Before he knew it the time flew by and it was already time to take lunch.

Just as he finished the car he noticed the office door open. Jake had gotten lost on the work he was doing, and it had been a refreshing thing. He dreaded having to deal with the Stoll brothers once more. They were a force to reckon with as teenagers but as adults he could only imagine. It was hard enough trying to figure out how to handle one of them.

The three men stumbled out the small office and everyone stared at them. Connor glared at the two with a smothering look before turning toward Jake. He didn’t look as happy to see Jake either it seemed.

“Lunch,” Connor grumbled at him. He wasn’t quite sure if that was a demand, a command, or a request but it sounded like Jake would be having lunch with him. “Those two are going to stay at the motel across the way there.” Jake wasn’t sure why he was told this, but he’d already assumed that would be the case as there was only one motel in town. “And um…” Connor stuck his hands into his pockets and kicked the cement floor with his shoe. “I was wondering… you know…”

Jake waited but it seemed Connor couldn’t quite bring up the words. Jake looked up at the two men who were talking to Rand but looking their way.

“Would your family like to join us for dinner?” Jake asked. Somehow he had a feeling that was what Connor was trying to ask. He wasn’t sure. Jake wasn’t exactly a mind reader, and he wasn’t exactly good and reading situations or people either.

Connor quickly looked up at him with that funny amazed stare he had the night before when he saw Jake flex his pecs. He couldn’t help but smile at Connor. The other man seemed so relieved. Perhaps asking Jake was considered a difficult task. It didn’t seem that difficult of a task however.

“Is that okay?” Travis asked, walking up from behind Connor with Michael behind him.

“It’s fine.”

“What about your mom?” Connor asked.

“She left this morning to drive out of state,” Jake answered. “What is it?” Jake could see something worried Connor, but the man shook his head and refused to answer. Jake made a mental note to see what was wrong later, although it might not exactly be his place to delve into any of Connor’s problems. Not that he could help it. Considering Connor’s track record, it was likely the problem would end up dragging Jake into it somehow.

“Jake!” Randall ran up to Jake’s leg and grabbed hold of it. “Lunch!”

“Yes Randall.” Jake picked Randall off his leg. “Ryder. Come with.” He quickly turned around and grabbed the scrawnier 19-year-old by the scruff of his neck and pulled him over. “On me.”

“No, I’m… okay,” Ryder answered with uncertainty in his voice.

Jake shook his head. “Come on. Don’t worry you’re not the only city kid. Look at this lot behind us.” Jake started to lead Ryder out of the garage. “Don’t worry, the only one that bites is Connor.”

“I _don’t_ bite,” Connor grumbled. Jake met gazes with the shorter man and winked at Ryder. “I don’t!” Connor snapped when he saw Jake wink.

“This kid bites too,” Jake laughed as he jiggled Randall up against his chest. Randall laughed and then as if to prove it he bit down on Jake’s shoulder.

“Ryder don’t listen to him!” Connor grabbed Ryder by the arm and pulled him away from Jake as they crossed the street. “I mean if anyone is the one that bites, it’s definitely Jake.”

“Wait, how do you know that?” Ryder asked. They were all silent for a moment before Connor’s face turned red, Ryder started guffawing and Jake couldn’t help laughing either. “Dude,” Ryder laughed as he shook his head at Connor. In the short time that Connor had been in town of all the people he’d gotten close to, he’d chosen the city-kid Ryder to befriend.

“Shut up!”

They found themselves sitting at the diner. Jake was squeezed into the booth with Randall and Ryder, while Connor and Travis on the other side of the booth. Michael had to pull up a chair to sit on the outside, as he was too big to squeeze in with Connor and Travis. Jake had never felt more nauseous than now.

“How do you tell those two apart?” Ryder whispered to Jake over Randall.

Jake looked at Connor sitting across from him and then at Travis. The two were arguing over the lunch menu while Michael was silently perusing the menu on his own.

“Jake,” Randall pulled at his arm. Jake turned from Ryder to look down at Randall between them. He pointed at the grilled cheese sandwich on the kid’s menu. “Can I have the chocolate malt?”

“No.”

Randall stared at the menu a moment. “Okay.” He turned the kid’s menu over and tried to read over the beverage list.

“Dude, fries with gravy!” Travis argued.

“That’s gross! With malt, man!” Connor snapped back. Travis blanched and turned to Michael pleadingly.

“Travis, it’s too early in the day for ice cream.”

“It’s never too early for ice cream!” both Stoll brothers said in sync. They both looked appalled but without looking up Michael smiled. Jake couldn’t help but believe Michael somehow had a secret technique to taming the Stoll brothers.

“Ice cream!” Randall cheered.

“Ice cream!” the brothers cheered with Randall.

“No,” Jake sighed. He met Ryder’s gaze and the younger man shrugged.

“But…” Connor turned to Jake.

“Lunch.”

“But…”

“Lunch, Connor,” Jake sighed. He pointed his gaze at Connor’s menu. Connor sent him a glare but Jake didn’t relent.

“Fine,” Connor grumbled.

“Looks like I’m not the only one who can handle Stolls,” Michael remarked. Jake turned to Michael who looked up from his menu and smiled. How was he supposed to respond to that? Was he supposed to respond to that? He hoped that wasn’t some kind of way to hint at Jake about his relationship with Connor. If whatever they had been doing was considered having a relationship. They weren’t exactly dating.

While Jake was busy thinking to himself someone suddenly kicked him under the table. Jake glared at Connor whose legs were suddenly wrapping around his bruised shin. Connor was looking at the menu but his legs were tightening around Jake’s leg. Jake tried to pull his leg back from under the small table but Connor’s legs simply followed his. It didn’t seem as if Connor was interested in doing anything more than intertwining their legs together however, so after a while Jake let it be.

Once their lunch came everyone was quiet at the table. Jake noticed the way Ryder fidgeted as he looked between the Stolls and Kahale. The younger man had always shown a level of distrust and vigilance around others. Jake picked up on that twitch during his time in college. His roommate’s cousin had been the same. He always sat in a way as if to make himself less noticeable, put himself in a position in the room to watch the exits, and never spoke first to strangers.

Jake had not thought much about these cues at the time during college, because Jake had been exactly the same way. By practice, Jake had never wanted to stand out or be noticed. As a demigod, it became a habit to position himself in places where the exit was close or visible. As for speaking to strangers… Jake had always been some kind of shame or outcast in town. Unless someone wanted something from him they rarely ever spoke to him.

Jake thought back on his college roommate’s cousin. He knew a bit of Ryder’s background. While he was tall and gangly, it was also very obvious that given a few more years Ryder would have a nice physique. The younger guy attempted at speaking at a slower tempo, but he slipped into his city speed tempo the same way Connor lapsed into rapid fire languages when he was angry. Ryder was a biracial child, because while his eyes were blue with a handsome angular face, he had dark hair and a light copper-brown skin complexion. Jake couldn’t make a guess as to what Ryder’s other parent’s ethnicity or race might have been, but it was obvious one parent was a blue-eyed white individual.

“So Ryder,” Travis cleared his throat and grinned towards them. “Are you and Jake…” he started to ask.

Ryder looked confused at the unfinished question.

“Travis is trying to ask if you’re in a relationship with Jake,” Michael sighed out. Travis rolled his eyes and reached out to pinch Michael’s shoulder. Michael simply flashed Travis a smile before turning to Ryder again. “You don’t have to answer,” he whispered loudly enough for the table to hear. He smirked when Travis smacked him in the arm this time.

“I’m into girls,” Ryder answered. He was pacing his words, trying to be careful not to show off his urban habit of speaking fast.

Jake looked at Connor and saw the man staring at him. Jake raised an inquisitive brow but Connor quickly looked down and stabbed his fork into his salad. The conversation died and everyone quietly ate their food. Jake had a feeling Connor had somehow suspected he and Ryder had some sort of relationship as well. While he had once and awhile taken Ryder to lunch and more often than not had conversations with the kid during break, he didn’t exactly see Ryder as his choice for a romantic rendezvous.

“Jake.” Randall tugged at Jake’s t-shirt and pointed at Michael’s pasta. “Dinner.”

“After work.”

“Can we take Connor shopping?” Randall asked.

“Yes Randall,” answered Jake. Connor’s knees pressed against his as if in question. Jake didn’t respond.

“Can we buy him pajamas too?” Randall asked.

Ryder asked jokingly, “What, you’re not sharing your PJs?”

“Mine are too small,” Randall answered. “And grandma made them for me.” Jake and Ryder chuckled at the honest answer. “And if we get him a lot of things Connor will want to stay, right?” Jake had a feeling that Randall hadn’t given up the thought of taking Connor are part of his possessions. Randall understood in his mind that he couldn’t exactly “own” another person but part of him had registered Connor as part of his life already.

“Gods…” Connor moaned as he planted his face into his hand. “I’m not a freaking dog.”

Randall glared at Connor questioningly. “If you were a dog you wouldn’t have to sleep in Jake’s room.” Connor’s face turned red as Travis jabbed him in the sides. Jake tried to pretend he wasn’t interested in the conversation, but it was unbearably hilarious. “Jake would just build you a dog house.” Jake pinched the inside of his own thigh to stop from laughing.

“You can build dog houses?” Ryder asked curiously.

“Jake can build anything!” Randall announced loudly.

“Randall,” Jake sighed. Randall frowned at him as if Jake was wrong to chastise him for boasting. “Remember the Transformer we made?” Jake tried to gently remind him of nearly a year and a half ago.

Randall quickly amended, “Almost anything!”

“Whoa, you tried to build a Transformer?” Travis leaned forward. “Like a real live Transformer? A robot?” He was looking at Jake the same way Connor did, with this childish awe that reminded him of Randall when the boy looked at one of Jake’s new contraception. When he glanced at Connor and Michael quickly, the former rolled his eyes while the other merely smirked before schooling his face.

“Is that the thing Randall said went ‘ka-boom’ and flew into the air, and broke two windows?” Ryder asked in interest. So Ryder had a close relationship with Randall after all. If he hadn’t Randall wouldn’t have even talked about it. He’d always assumed Randall had simply trusted Ryder but had never really opened up.

“Yes.”

“What did it look like?” Travis asked. “No, wait, wait,” he gasped, “What could it do? Did it actually transform between a car and a robot?” Travis looked positively excited, something he didn’t quite see with Connor. While Connor could be child-like, he didn’t have this kind of exuberance for the wonder of the simplest things such as a child’s toy.

“Finish your food, husband,” Michael quietly pacified his spouse with a simple pat on his hand. Michael withdrew his hand as casually as he had put it on Travis’ hand. He continued eating as if nothing had happened. Jake evaded his gaze from them and stared out the window. It was uncomfortable watching other people’s display of affection.

Jake took in a deep breath. He hadn’t expected lunch with the family, and then dinner either. Exactly how was he supposed to handle any of this was beyond him. Jake had felt awkward enough having to eat with his grandparents and being judged by one or both of them. Being judged by Michael Kahale who was well-known among demigods and Travis Stoll who was Connor’s brother put him on edge a lot more than his grandparents did.


	26. Connor's Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And we're back with Connor's family.

Connor praised himself for actually sitting through lunch without a sarcastic comment. After lunch Connor launched straight into work and never left the office. He spent so much time focusing on his task at hand that he didn’t even notice the time. Connor was in the middle of moving boxes toward the door when he noticed who was standing at the doorway.

Jake sighed at him and his hand reached out to Connor. At first he was so stunned he simply stood there with boxes in hand. When Jake took off Connor’s glasses he blinked a few times until Jake came into clearer view again.

“These are bad for you unless you need them,” Jake sighed with the gentlest smile on his face. Connor found his brain still trying to wake up to the rest of the world. In that dumbfounded moment Jake grabbed the boxes from Connor’s hand and set them down on the ground by the door. “Time to go.” Connor nodded but found he still could not focus on anything.

Somehow they had gotten to a Wal-Mart which was in the next town over. Randall was bouncing about excitedly until Jake informed the ball of energy that they were only here to get essentials for Connor. He’d tried to argue but didn’t really have the strength to be stubborn about it. He let Jake quickly grab him two pairs of pajamas, shirts, jeans, and then off they’d gone to get him a tooth brush.

Randall yawned out of boredom so Connor tossed whichever cheapest tooth brush he’d found. Jake sighed, nearly suffocated Connor with a stern look and put the tooth brush back. He looked at each tooth brush carefully, reading labels as well as inspecting the bristles of the brush. He grabbed some fancy tooth brush that cost two dollars more than the cheap one. It had pristinely cut jagged bristles, the back of the head of the tooth brush was a tongue cleaner, and the handle had a fancy grip.

“Snacks!” Randall squealed when they pulled up to the grocery part of the Wal-Mart.

“You shop for groceries here?” Connor asked dubiously.

Jake gave him an indulging smile. “Your brothers are coming over aren’t they?”

“Brother,” he emphasized. He only had one. He still refused to count Michael as any brother, in-law or otherwise, of his. However he couldn’t deny that after the debacle four months ago after Percy’s wedding, Michael was definitely family to him. He wasn’t his brother though, not the way he saw Will as his brother anyway.

“What is Michael Kahale then?” Jake asked nonchalantly. He didn’t seem to really care. Jake rarely tried to make conversation but perhaps they both needed their minds off the real problem. Dinner with the family. With _his_ family.

“Family,” Connor absentmindedly answered. He decided not to add _“but you are not”_ to spite Jake. It was an old wound after all. There was no sense in bringing it up again. He didn’t want to remember the pain or the nothingness he’d felt simultaneously when Jake had spoken those words and rejected him.

Jake did react though, as if he’d heard what Connor hadn’t said. He’d frozen in place, standing with the cart by the Cheetos. Randall stared at the cheese snacks in awe and it was clear he wasn’t allowed to have them very often as a snack because the boy was almost salivating. Jake snapped himself out of his stupor and pushed the cart forward.

Connor followed sluggishly. He dreaded thinking about eating dinner with Michael and Travis. Alone he was fine, he could handle the motherly fuss and fatherly indifference. With Jake and Randall? No, it was impossible. After all both Michael and Travis knew Jake had been the one who hurt him after Percy’s wedding. They both knew the reason why he’d cried out like that in front of them.

“I was told Nico di Angelo and Will are joining us,” Jake informed him just then.

His head swerved from the Doritos he was looking at to Jake. “What?” he squeaked, nearly shouted at Jake. He rushed to Jake and grabbed him by the arm to turn him around. “Nico and Will?”

“So I was told.”

“Why?”

Jake shrugged. He didn’t seem fazed at all. Didn’t anything scare this guy shitless anymore? Gods, Connor wanted to shake the man sideways and see if he actually knew how to throw up.

“You realize you’re just letting them walk all over you right?” Connor nearly shouted. He tried to calm himself down, took a deep breath, and tried again. It wasn’t working. He was definitely panicking. “Michael and Travis are one thing, okay? They’re polite as long as Michael can keep Travis happy. Which is apparently really easy to do when you’re the son of a sex god.”

“Love.”

“What?”

“Venus is the _goddess_ of love,” Jake corrected him calmly. He picked up a bag of potato chips and put it into the cart. “You should be careful how to talk about the gods or Zeus just might strike you with lightning.” Connor almost rolled his eyes at the warning but he knew that to be true. So instead he mumbled a weak apology to the Aphrodite and followed Jake.

“Also, don’t use those terms in front of Randall,” Jake added as they rounded to the next aisle. He registered that Jake didn’t want him using mature words like “sex” in front of Randall but he didn’t bother thinking about it. Kids should stay kids for as long as they could.

Connor bit his lower lip, chewing at it in worry about the outcome with the new information. Nico, Will, Michael and Travis were part of his group. They were his family in essence, and they were fiercely protective. While Nico had acted cold and distant about knowing what Jake had put Connor through, he was also very realistic about things. Of the four who were there four months ago who helped him cope and pick himself back up, it had been Nico who was most helpful. He didn’t try to sugarcoat the truth, he also put things in perspective. Not every guy was open to being in a relationship with a man, even if he was open with having sex with one. Nico had also explained that not all relationships worked out because not all truths were known. While some secrets were good to have here and there in a relationship, the real secrets—the ones that hurt the soul that wished to be told, Nico had said—were the ones that needed to be known.

Connor didn’t have any big secrets he needed to tell Jake. At least he was certain he didn’t. He’d gotten over his fear of men approaching him. Hell, he’d even had sex with men. There was no point in talking about past trauma, despite his old therapist telling him that it was good to open up to people to foster trust. Connor stopped seeing his therapist around the time he started taking online courses instead of being on campus. At the beginning the meetings helped him figure out his problems. He’d been attracted to men but had problems accepting it because of the past trauma as a child. The nightmares had slowly stopped for him but his body and some inner part of him still remembered it. It’d gotten old though, because Connor no longer needed to deal with that despite the therapist’s arguments.

Before long he was standing at the car with Jake. He was holding one of the paper bags when he realized he was supposed to help put them in the trunk. Connor hated when he was thinking too much. Impulse was his thing. So as he sat in the car he tried talking with Jake so as to distract himself from thinking.

“So what’s for dinner?”

“Pasta!” Randall shouted.

“Considering how many guys I have coming to my house just to eat dinner?” Jake laughed as he shook his head. For some reason Connor had a feeling Jake was accusing him for being the cause. “I’m thinking we should barbeque out on the deck.”

Immediately after hearing this Randall shouted, “BBQ!” He cheered excitedly.

“So we’re hitting the grocery store next?” Connor asked with a smile. He didn’t recall seeing any kind of meat getting picked up in Wal-Mart. Not like the place sold anything worth cooking anyways.

“Aw,” Randall sighed dejectedly.

Into the local grocery store they went into after getting back into town. Connor leaned against the cart as Jake and Randall spent their sweet time grumbling over which meat would taste best. He didn’t care so much which one looked redder or juicer or tastier. Once the two had a good stack of what looked like twelve slabs of beef and a set of ribs, the two made their way to the vegetables. First was a bag of potatoes. Then carrots and celery. While they were at the produce area Randall announced they needed fruits, so they grabbed pineapple because who didn’t have pineapple with a night barbeque exactly?

“Kiwis!” Randall said as they were walking past it.

“Only if you agree to corns and broccoli,” Jake smiled at Randall. The little boy wrinkled his nose but then relented and agreed. The kid made it seem as if he was indulging in Jake and not the other way around, Connor actually burst into laughter. When he did Jake looked at him and smiled. It was a strange soft kind of smile he’d seen Michael give Travis several times before.

“What?”

Jake walked past without an answer. As he brushed by he deftly bumped his hip into Connor. No one else noticed in the store but Connor felt his awareness flush to the same level it did when he was alone and knew monsters might attack him. Hades, did the man want to out them by being that intimate in a grocery store of all places?

Jake came back with a large bag of kiwis and the other produces agreed on. He was definitely going to dread tonight.

By the time they got back to the cabin it seemed Nico and Will were standing on the front porch waiting. Michael and Travis pulled up just as Nico and Will came down the steps to help them carry the groceries in. Connor ignored the conversation everyone started on with as he followed Jake into the house and into the kitchen. Everyone else chattered on as they followed.

“Nice place,” Michael commented, looking at the woodwork and admiring the living room.

“Thanks, it’s my mother’s,” Jake said. He didn’t seem invested in the conversation so everyone else let it drop.

“What about Ernest and Alethea?” Randall asked, tugging at Jake’s pants leg.

“Sorry Randall,” Will sighed. “Alethea has to stay at home, and Ernest can’t really leave right now.” Randall’s dejection plunged everyone into another bout of silence.

“Whoa, ya even bought underwear!” Travis said as he was looking into one of the Wal-Mart bags. Shit. “Is that normal on the grocery list.”

“It is when you don’t have any, would you stop snooping?” Connor quickly snatched the bag from his brother. He peeked inside, making sure all the clothes Jake had bought for him were in it before he hugged it to his chest protectively. Connor ran up the stairs with it to keep it from any of those curious morons who were part of his life.

When he came back after stuffing the bag in Jake’s closet, all the food was laid out in meticulous order and dinner was already being prepped. Michael was out in the back on the deck outside helping Will clear out and start the grill. Jake was prepping the meat first, while Travis was at the sink peeling potatoes into a bowl. Nico was likely sitting out in the deck supervising Michael and Will’s work.

“You’re in charge of Randall,” Jake told him. Randall was sitting at the counter opposite of where Jake was prepping the meat. He was staring longingly at the pineapple like a lovesick puppy. Connor almost laughed again, instead he turned his gaze on Jake to ask nonverbally if he really had to.

Jake met his gaze, smiled and nodded. Connor made another face, a cunning one that he knew Jake would recognize as owing Connor one for this. Of course it wasn’t exactly like Jake could be the bad guy here at the moment and tell his son he couldn’t sit and stare at the pineapple all night. Nope, that was Connor’s job now.

He picked up the unsuspecting Randall over the counter stool and into the living room. He sat down on the loveseat against the wall that separated part of the kitchen from the living room. Randall settled onto his lap with a disappointed look that blamed Connor for taking him away from his pineapple.

“What, I thought you liked spending time with me,” Connor joked. Randall rolled his eyes. “Hey, cut me some slack. My family’s here and it’s _very_ exhausting you know. They’re here to pester me about being gone.”

Randall actually considered the information for a bit. “Are they here because you’re going to live with us from now on?” Connor smiled. It was so very obvious Randall wanted Connor. For what he wasn’t sure, but it was just so apparent that Randall saw Connor as part of his life. He had to live with them, eat with them, sleep in the same room, be taken care by them, and all matters of _belonging_ to the Mason family.

“Something like that.”

Randall made a snarling expression at Connor’s dubious response. He was obviously not satisfied with the answer. Connor considered very quickly how best to get Randall on to a different subject.

“You’re not going to stay with us?”

“I don’t know,” Connor sighed. Then he asked, “Tell me about the Transformer your dad made.” Then Randall burst into an excited story regaling Jake’s amazing work and how he’d constructed the foot tall Transformer. At least Connor tried imagining at best with the explanation of a primary school kid. Connor laughed at the appropriate moments but when Randall told him how the Transformer exploded as it tried to swing its plastic sword he burst into laughter harder and louder than he’d expected.

Travis poked his head in not too long after Randall finished telling Connor how the Transformer exploded. Connor laughed even harder when he saw his brother and then heard Jake yell from the kitchen, “Travis Stoll if you come anywhere near my kitchen again I’m going to kill you!”

“Killing is bad, right?” Randall asked Connor. It wasn’t some uncertain question, it had no hint of fear in it. Randall had that look again like he was going to store away whatever answer Connor gave him.

Rubbing his chin with his finger in deep thought Connor figured out his best answer. So as he waved his brother into the living room like the kicked puppy that he was, Connor answered, “Sometimes it can’t be helped if you have to kill. Like when you kill an animal so you can eat it.” Randall nodded but expected more, and Connor had hoped Randall would accept that. He sighed and gave his brother a look who was sitting on the carpet next to his knee. Now he felt like some old wise grandpa. “Sometimes you have to kill someone in defense.”

“In defense?” Randall asked.

“It means that person was trying to kill you first,” Travis explained. “Either he kills you and you’re dead, or you have to kill him so you won’t be dead.” Randall regarded Travis’ answer, nodded, and did that little thing he always did—store the information somewhere in his head. “But,” Travis added as he soon also noticed that Randall was storing the information in his head, “You have to try you best to do everything else to make them stop first before you kill them. You talk to them, or try to make a deal, or something—anything. If they still want to kill you, _then_ you kill them.”

“Okay.”

“Alright, now,” Travis grinned giddily. He patted Randall’s knee. “Tell me about the Transformer!”

Of course Randall smiled and went right back to repeating the story. This time however, apparently Jake and Randall had also painted the Transformer. A minor detail Randall apparently forgot to mention because Connor wouldn’t have cared—or so said the little rascal. Connor laughed even harder the second time Randall described the supposed explosion of the Transformer. This time it was so large of an explosion that Randall had to stand up on Connor’s lap and juggle his balance on Connor’s legs.

He quickly grabbed the boy by the waist before he fell over on top of Travis. Standing up he flew Randall over Travis’ head and around the living room. Randall let out an excited squeal when Connor swung around in a quick arc as if he was throwing the boy. Then he set Randall down as the boy excitedly jumped up and down.

“Connie!” Randall grabbed on to Connor’s leg. He snuggled up to it for some reason as if Connor’s leg was a plush toy.

“Yes Randall?”

Then as swiftly as he’d held on to Connor’s leg, Randall was now quiet and shy. He hid his face into Connor’s leg which he was still hugging. So this was Randall being embarrassed.

“Use your words or I won’t understand,” Connor told the boy. Randall rubbed his face into Connor’s jeans. This kid was even stranger than Alethea was, but he was definitely adorable. Randall was going to be a handful once he hit puberty, and Connor was going to laugh as Jake found it hard to handle.

Connor coughed. He swallowed back the emotions trying to worm it way up from where he’d buried them. Thinking of having a future with Jake in any capacity scared him. He would have been okay as just someone Jake used to know. He wouldn’t have minded seeing the man in passing either. Connor just didn’t think he would be able to live his life as Jake’s former lover or ex-boyfriend because here he was imagining a future that was in no way confirmed. If anything he was just some kind of convenient accessory who happened to be there for Jake’s sexual desire.

Randall let go of his leg and ran to the shelf where there was a stereo. He popped in a CD and played it then ran back as the slow song started. Connor let out a soft laugh when _“Kiss from a Rose”_ by Seal started to play.

“Dance with me!” Randall demanded as he stood in front of Connor and held out his tiny hands.

“So I’m the girl in this.”

Jake showed a genuinely confused expression.

Connor shook his head and took the boy’s hand. He looked at his foot as he led Connor into a slow dance. Back step, side step, front step, side step, and repeat. Randall was very focused on getting his foot and not stepping on Connor’s shoes. Connor couldn’t help the bubble of laughter that escaped him this time, because he suddenly remembered watching Randall dance with Alethea at Percy’s wedding.

“Waah!” Travis let out a strange yelp as Michael came into the living room and picked him up by the waist. Connor and Randall stopped dancing and laughed as Michael set him down next to him and pulled Travis close to dance. “Kahale!” Travis yelled.

“You know you want to dance with me,” Michael winked at Travis. Connor physically cringed. He still couldn’t bring himself to be okay with Michael Kahale hitting on his brother. Any public display of affection between the two made Connor feel sick.

“You two never had a wedding ceremony, right?” Will commented as he walked in with Nico.

“Of course we did,” Travis laughed as Michael twirled him around the living room as if two grown men wouldn’t knock down furniture or lamps. Luckily they didn’t but Connor kept a sharp eye on it.

“Yeah, well I wasn’t invited so it shouldn’t count,” Connor grumbled as he crossed his arms to his chest. Not that he would want to be there to see Michael making love-sick eyes at his brother like he was now. It would also mean that Connor would end up being the best man or whatever at his brother’s wedding. Imagine that, Connor in charge of a wedding in one of those annoying tuxedos.

“I wasn’t either,” Will sighed out.

“I was.”

“What?” Will turned to Nico. “Dude, what? How come Nico gets invited to your wedding?” Will turned to the dancing couple in the living room. Connor picked Randall up and put him on the couch so he had a front row seat to the dancing men in the center of the living room without being in the way. “I’m like your best friend.”

“Jason was also there,” Nico added, as if purposely throwing oil into a fire. Connor sat down next to Randall and slouched back to relax.

“Dude!” Will groaned at the two.

The song ended and Travis tumbled forward exhausted. Connor grabbed his brother before he heaved over out of breath. He stood up and straightened his brother up. Connor patted the man on his back and nodded at Will.

“C’mon man, he’s really taking it hard.”

Travis rolled his eyes. “I’m not getting married _again_ just because Will feels left out.” Will pouted but that didn’t last long when Nico pinched him in the side. “Besides _he’s_ supposed to get married next,” Travis pointed out very argumentatively.

Connor shrugged at Will, indicating it was his turn to rebut. Travis did have a point. Will visibly glared and grounded his teeth at them. Everyone knew that Will and Nico had only just gotten to the point where they were both staying at each other’s places and having spending more than nights at each other’s homes. They had not gotten to the point of vacationing together yet or living together. Everyone had their own pace when they got into a relationship, the two just moved unbelievably slowly because of their stubbornness and thick-headedness.

“I’m going to see if Jake needs help.” With that Will turned around and went back into the kitchen.

“I should too, we’ll talk later,” Michael said. He wrapped an arm around Travis to give him a one-arm hug. He nuzzled his nose to the back of Travis’ ear, as though sniffing the man’s hair before removing himself. Connor tried not to glare but sometimes he had a feeling Michael did those things in front of him just to annoy him.

“Alright, dish!” Travis finally exhaled. “Explain yourself, right now.”

“Gods, I’m not going to explain myself to you just because you’re older,” Connor bit back. Nico turned away without so much as a word and started walking into the kitchen. Travis, however, was ready for Connor to try and escape. He held Connor by the elbow and set him back down on the couch. He grabbed the leg rest in front of the loveseat and pulled it in front of Connor to sit on.

They both sat in silence. Finally Connor pointed down at Randall who sat staring at Travis waiting as well.

“What?”

“You seriously want to tell you what I’ve been doing in front of a kid?” asked Connor very pointedly. Travis rolled his eyes. “Jake said I was in charge of him while you guys cook.”

“Uhhuh, Jake said,” Travis said in a slightly mocking tone. Connor kicked his brother in the shin. He wasn’t going to let that slight go. He did not sound like that.

“Oh it’s Jake’s song!” Randall shouted loudly. Connor snapped his head to Randall. The boy leapt off the couch and ran off into the kitchen before Connor could even ask for his explanation.

“Who is this?” Connor asked Travis. Travis listened to the song and the voice singing.

_Yeah, I was that kind of man,_

_Just ask anyone_

_I don’t dance, but here I am_

_Spinning you around and around in circles_

_It ain’t my style, but I don’t care_

_I’d do anything with you anywhere_

 

It didn’t take long. Travis snapped his fingers and announced, “ _I Don’t Dance_ by Lee Brice.” Connor wanted to ask who that was again but he probably wouldn’t know. The only country songs or singers he knew were Rascal Flatts, because they were Connor's favorite. Well, he’d heard a couple Johnny Cash songs and he liked that old western feel to them too.

“Randall,” Jake sighed as he was pulled in, hunched over a little because the little kid holding his hand.

“Spin!”

Jake sighed with an indulgent look on his face. Connor and Travis cleared the way and sat on the couch. They both clapped and chanted for Jake to dance. The man mumbled something and then held his palms up. Randall grinned up at Jake cheerfully and slipped both hands into the man’s callused palms.

The two started stepping side to side, moving in circles. Whenever the singer sung the word _“spinning”_ or _“circles”_ Jake would pull Randall up by his hand and trap the boy under his arm like a sack of potato and quickly spin in a circle. Randall would laugh until Jake put him down and they started that side stepping circle dance they were doing.

Once the song ended Randall squealed, “Again!” He ran to the stereo and pressed the rewind button. The song skipped back to the song from before again. Randall hurried to Connor and grabbed his hand, pulling him from the couch.

“What, me this time?” Connor laughed. He wasn’t so sure he could pull Randall up under his arm quick enough to spin him in time with the singing.

“Yeah, with Jake!” Randall said excitedly. “Jake’s going to spin you!” Randall handed Connor off to Jake as Travis burst into a guffaw. Connor was even more appall. Zeus, was he really supposed to let Jake grab him like a bag of potatoes under his arm and spin them in a circle like an airplane?

Jake raised an eyebrow as if to challenge him. Connor braced himself, following the easy side steps with the sway of Jake’s shoulder and body. He tried to keep an appropriate distance but before he knew it their hips were pressing against each other. Once the first _“Spinning you around and around in circles”_ came Connor clenched his teeth and braced himself for being pulled under Jake’s arm.

Hands gripped his waist and pulled him flush against Jake. Not to overly praise himself, but Connor was relatively tall as broad shouldered. He knew Jake could carry him, he’d seen it on many occasions but this was different. Jake had picked Connor up, pressing his hips against Jake’s chest, and stared up at Connor as they stepped around in a circle to spin. Unintentionally, he had his hand planted right on Jake’s shoulder afraid the man just might topple him over the shoulder.

Jake dropped him, hands gripping Connor’s knees first, then his waist and back to his hips before Connor’s feet met the floor. Connor wanted to get away but the song was still playing and Jake had his hands on Connor’s hip again. They were swaying to the song, and Connor’s hands were still on Jake’s shoulders. Shit this was embarrassing. His brother was no longer laughing, Randall was sitting on the couch again observing the way his dad danced different with Connor, and he was so afraid the other guys were going to walk in and say something ridiculous.

Jake leaned in close to whisper into his ear. The only word he murmured was, “Tease.” Connor shot a glower at Jake. He was not the one being a tease this time. The keywords to the song came on and Jake would lift Connor up, spin them around and set him on his feet again.

This time Connor grabbed Jake by the head and pulled until Jake’s head bent forward. He bit the man’s earlobe and then growled quietly, “I never said no.” He smiled when he saw Jake’s eyes dilate. Good.

Jake chuckled. He nuzzled Connor’s cheek and neck. “That’s a promise.”


	27. Forward

By the time dinner finally ended Connor had pinch marks bruising his thighs. At least it felt like there was bruising on his thighs. He’d been pinching himself so he wouldn’t make a sarcastic comment or start a fight with anyone who took a jab at him. Gods, he thought he was the immature one. He couldn’t believe Michael and Travis made such suggestive comments in front of Randall. Did they do that flirty suggestiveness in front of Ernest too? He hoped not but it would explain why the boy couldn’t care less about romance and those adult things Alethea blushed at when watching movies.

Connor collapsed onto the couch and exhaled. He kept his eyes closed and tried to find a good place to go to. Instead he found himself getting up and running out the door. Connor knew it wasn’t the smartest move. The sun had long since set, he didn’t exactly have the layout of the woods around the property memorized, and he had no weapon on him.

Once he exhausted himself he dropped down into the dirt. Connor stared at the night sky and took in deep breaths. For some reason, he felt utterly safe here, lying in the woods in the dark without any form of protection. It was probably one of the few times in his entire life he’d ever felt so careless outside of Camp.

He heard the leaves being crunched and quickly sat up. Connor glared in front of him and saw Jake stand where he was with his hands up to show he didn’t mean any harm. Connor rolled his eyes and waved the man over.

“Where’s Randall?”

“Asleep. He exhausted himself.”

“You aren’t worried he’s going to get kidnapped?” He meant it as a joke but for some reason it came off with a bitter taste in his mouth. Perhaps he was getting more mature, suddenly certain jokes didn’t sit well with him.

Jake sat down next to him. “We should talk.”

“You know I’m going to leave eventually, don’t you?” Connor asked. He got to the point right away because he couldn’t stand skirting around whatever it was they were doing. Connor had been hurt the last time they tried opening up to each other. While he both enjoyed and dreaded the closeness and time he had with Jake, Connor couldn’t see himself recovering again. Not when the others saw him the way he was today. He could see it in their eyes. They knew he wanted to be with Jake.

“We’re sexually compatiable.”

Connor barked. “Subtle, much?”

“Randall seems to like you.”

“I’m as much a kid as he is,” Connor pointed out.

“My grandfather likes you.”

“I think he thinks I’m redeemable.” Connor laughed. “I don’t think that old man has ever given up on anyone.” Jake pressed his shoulder with Connor’s. The warmth of their contact spread over Connor like a wildfire.

“My mother thinks you’re great.”

“She barely knows me.” Connor snorted and rolled his eyes again. “Why are you trying to make me feel better?” he laughed as he turned his head to face Jake. Then he paused and saw those dark eyes staring right at him. There was something indescribable in Jake’s expression that spoke volumes.

 _“Starry Eyes.”_ Michael’s voice once whispered into Travis’ ears a long time ago. Both of them thought he hadn’t heard it but Connor had known the endearment for what it was, and now Connor knew Jake was looking at him the same way Michael saw Travis.

“I like you,” Jake spoke softly.

Connor stood up and shook his head. “No.” He backed away. The pain wrapped itself around him and he felt his heart crushing itself down on him. “No.” Breathing was too hard. He gasped for air as he turned away from Jake. “Why would you tell me this?” Connor tried not to whimper or cry as he demanded for the answer. “You already rejected me!” Connor yelled into the dark.

“I know what Yew said to you during the Battle,” Jake’s quiet voice said from where he sat on the ground. Connor turned back around. Jake’s head hung down and his hands were fisted in his lap.

“So what?” Connor yelled. “He’s dead!”

Jake stood up and his eyes flicked to Connor. “You said yes to him.”

“He died!” Connor yelled again.

Jake tightened his jaw and turned his head away. “He was my friend, Connor.”

“You fucked with me and my feelings because I once agreed to go out with your friend?” Connor yelled angrily. “He was my friend too!” Connor stopped himself from stepping up in front of Jake’s face. “Michael and Travis had to piece me together after you rejected me. You told me I wasn’t _yours_ and now you want us to do what? Get married and live a merry life raising your fake son?” Connor shouted angrily. He didn’t mean some of what he said, he simply wanted to hurt Jake with his words. Someday those words were going to bite him in the ass. Words like that always did.

“I liked you,” was Jake’s only answer.

Connor was still angry. He opened his mouth to tell him off one more time but then the words echoed themselves to him. Past tense.

Now even more frustrated Connor asked through gritted teeth, “You mean you liked me, too.” Jake gave a curt nod.

Connor moved forward and punched Jake in the chest. The man simply allowed the punch and barely moved out of place. Connor wasn’t really trying to hurt him but he should have because it didn’t feel good at all.

“You can’t just say that!”

“He knew.”

“What?”

“He knew I liked you and he asked you out anyway,” Jake said in his matter-of-fact tone. Connor ground his teeth. “And you said yes.” This time he was aware of Jake’s hand on his back right over his waist. “You still grieved him.”

“So I wasn’t yours?” Connor asked angrily. He felt his resolve wavering but he couldn’t allow it. Sex was one thing but a relationship was harder for him to accept now. Not waiting for Jake’s response he added in a harsher tone, “I’m still not yours now.”

“No,” Jake readily agreed. His hand at Connor’s lower back pulled him closer to Jake. Connor tensed, trying his best to keep himself from making any physical contact with the rest of the man’s body. “But we can try this out and see, can’t we?”

“You want to try to see if I’m compatible with your family?” Connor scoffed. He turned his face away. Since they were physically compatible Jake now wanted to see if they could be personally compatible.

A callused hand caressed his cheek and swayed him to face Jake again. “I want us to see if we can belong to each other.” Jake pressed forward and kissed Connor.

At first, he kept his lips firmly closed but Jake didn’t relent. Before long Jake had teased Connor’s lips apart. The man’s tongue delved into Connor’s mouth. The force of Jake’s kiss had Connor moaning. Jake’s passion and desire bombarded Connor and he didn’t stand a chance against it. In fact, Connor felt his knees disappear on him and could barely stand. If Jake wasn’t pressing them so closely he probably would have collapsed at the man’s feet.

Once Jake pulled away Connor took a deep breath and leaned against the man. He didn’t even care that when he did he felt Jake’s bulge press against him. Connor waited for the strength to return to his legs.

“I’m contrary enough to ruin this,” Connor warned him.

Jake chuckled into his ear. “I’m sure I can persuade you.”

“I’ve gotta finish college you know.”

“Aren’t you behind?”

“Sorta.”

Jake laughed. “Come on.” Just then Jake lifted Connor off his feet into a princess hold. Connor struggled but the man simply laughed. “No one’s around to see.”

“You are.”

“And since when have you ever cared?” Jake laughed as he started walking back towards the cabin. Wherever that was.

“Always!”

“I seem to recall getting smacked in the nose once and then mounted because we were talking about this same subject.” Connor buried his face into Jake’s shoulder. Gods he hadn’t wanted to remember how he had first gotten so interested in Jake. He’d fallen over on top of Jake in the words at Camp and then he’d rubbed himself over Jake. Originally, he’d just been messing with the guy but then he’d also started to react. It wasn’t very long after that—not long at all really—that he’d begun to see the man as more than just another kid he’d known at camp.

Eventually Connor was set down on top of Jake’s bed. He quietly let Jake go about undressing. The man stood in front of him shirtless with his sweats on. Then he knelt down on one knee and looked up at Connor. He smiled. It was such a convincing smile that Connor almost believed everything was okay.

“You’re not worried at all about what Randall thinks about any of this?” It was probably the most important question. Randall was pretty much Jake’s entire world. He said as much when he told Connor about how Randall’s birth.

The most vulnerable face appeared on Jake’s face. “Randall already wants you here forever.” Connor knew that but for some reason he needed to be reminded of it. He wanted to say sorry but he could also tell from the way Jake smiled that he didn’t want an apology for the question. “And we’ll take this as slow or as fast as you want it.”

“Why does this sound like it’s my fault?” Connor asked. It sounded like Jake was doing this—that they were doing whatever this was—because of Connor. Connor wasn’t the one that rejected Jake. He never even had that chance.

Jake smiled again in that vulnerable, heartbroken way. “Connor, I know I hurt you and I’m not exactly sure how this is going to work. I just know that it’ll be you who decides whether you want to stay or not.”

Connor found himself laughing uncontrollably. Perhaps he’d gone crazy, he wasn’t entirely sure himself. Suddenly everything just seemed so hilarious. Connor had always been used to seeing the bad, the mischievous and the ones with another agenda. It was always so rare for him to find someone with neither of those things.

“What is it?” Jake asked, grabbing each of Connor’s limbs to inspect him. Connor laughed until tears started streaming. Flustered, Jake grabbed him by the face and tried to lull him from crying. He laughed even more as the tears fell and eventually snot started dripping.

“H-here,” Jake grabbed tissues from the Kleenex box by his nightstand and handed the wad to him. Connor thanked him and proceeded to noisily blow his nose into the tissues all at once. “Are you okay?” Jake asked worriedly, totally confused as to why Connor was crying and laughing at the same time. He was also probably wondering if Connor was perhaps crazy.

“I’m fine.” Connor waved away the concerned hand reaching out to him. “Let’s get ready for bed.” So, they went on their separate routine. They took turns showering and putting on sweats in silence. Connor didn’t seem to think much of it but he noticed the way Jake’s eyes followed him. The man was hyperaware of him and Connor would just smile whenever their eyes met because he knew regardless of what he said Jake would worry.

“Do you want to sleep alone?” Jake asked, standing at the entrance to his bedroom as if he was being denied accessed. His hands rubbed the back of his neck and that uncertain air that Jake used to carry from his youth reappeared. “I know I’ve been pushy and moved things a little fast so if you need time…” his words trailed off. His lips pursed and it was obvious Jake was trying not to finish his sentence.

Unable to help the annoyance surging in him, Connor snapped, “Get your ass in bed before I fuck it bareback in the hallway.” Jake smiled, his eyes lighting up in that flirty playful way that he had whenever he let himself go with Connor. It was actually charming, unless Connor just saw it a little too much in his fantasies that he actually thought of it as charming.

Jake crossed the threshold and slipped into his side of the bed, purposefully crawling over the bed from where Connor was standing to give him a show. Sometimes he had to ask if Jake had been a stripper during his college days or something. The man was so very used to displaying his body in a way that made Connor’s body burn. It would explain the multitude of experience and why the guy could masturbate in such a public area as the Forge, flex his pecs for show, talk about lap dances, and moved as if he was pole dancing horizontally on a bed in under five seconds.

“Your ass is starting to look very inviting,” Connor said. He hadn’t meant to say it out loud—it must be Travis’ influence. Somehow the words left his lips before he could catch himself. He was so profusely aroused and the sexual plays they’ve always been doing wasn’t as satisfying as the imagination of doing the real thing.

Jake was already tucked into his side of the bed. He had been lying face up but with Connor’s recent words the man smiled and turned over. His tattoo illuminated the dark as he folded his arms under his chest and turned to Connor. He wasn’t lying flat on his stomach. Instead he braced himself on his elbows and knees, stretching out his posture and his butt sticking out as if he was an underwear model being photographed over a bed. His entire posture was meant to make Connor even harder.

_Cock tease._

Connor licked his lips and crawled onto his side of the bed. He leaned forward on his knees, bending over Jake and clicking the swirling flame tattoo covering the man’s back. His hands slipped under the covers and inside Jake’s sweats. First he grabbed one of those wonderfully round orbs and as he nibbled on the man’s ear. Jake choked back what he expected was a moan. He moved his arm even lower, playfully spread the man’s cheeks with two fingers but not touching his hole. He then slid both fingers past his crack and over the man’s balls to rub his hand over the man’s hard member.

He whispered into Jake’s ear, “You keep not putting yours in so now I’m starting to wonder if maybe you want mine in you instead.” Jake made a quiet growl deep in his chest before turning his eyes on him. Connor smiled. He just lit the fire by challenging Jake. Now all he had to do was keep pushing.

Connor kept his ministration of Jake’s dick, but working on it as if he was pulling at the udder of a cow for milk. He flipped over, putting half of himself over Jake, his crotch jutting against the left side of Jake’s butt and leg. He kept his ministration, reaching from behind Jake rather than around his waist like normal. He didn’t lean over the man’s body, instead steadying the man’s left side against him with his other hand.

“You’re killing me,” Jake gasped.

“Pretty sure I’m pleasuring you,” Connor said in refute. “Of course if you mean you’re dying from said pleasure, then I’m probably doing something right.” Connor went crazy with the idea that Jake would let someone else dominate him. He went even crazier with the idea that the one with that honor was him. He didn’t know what kind of experiences Jake had having sex, but he sure hoped no one had ever put it in Jake. He wanted to be the one to do it.

“You want to put it in?” Jake asked, but the question didn’t sound so much a suggestion. It genuinely sounded like a question of Connor’s preference.

With a huff he stopped. He pressed down until Jake laid flat on his stomach and then laid on top of the man. He curled himself and hugged the man tightly.

“Connor?”

“I’ve always put it in,” Connor admitted. He took a deep breath. “But I really liked you as my top.” Connor felt his face heat up. Fantasizing about taking Jake was arousing, but in most of Connor’s fantasies it had always been Jake taking him up against a wall or on a desk. Just like their first time, Connor wanted Jake to throw everything irrelevant into the wind and just fuck him hard.

“Is that what I am?”

“What?”

“Nothing,” Jake chuckled. He rolled over, depositing Connor on the other side of the bed. “Tell me why you were crying earlier.” Connor rolled his eyes as Jake pulled them close and Connor had nowhere else to look but at Jake’s handsome face. Rather than answer, Connor decided to lean forward and close his eyes. He fell into a deep slow very easily.


	28. In the Darkness

Jake jumped out of bed the moment he heard his alarm. He grabbed his smartphone from off his desk and yanked off the charger as he rushed off. Connor was starting to roll out of bed to ask him what was wrong but Jake was already rushing down the stairs, nearly jumping the last half of the staircase.

He grabbed the holster he kept inside the cabinet by the front door and ran out. He followed the GPS coordinates flashing on his phone. Jake didn’t feel the ache or the sting on his feet until he stopped running. He’d thought a monster had breached his perimeter but it was worse than that. A cyclops was holding Randall upside-down.

Jake didn’t really think about what he was doing. He rushed into and drew the first weapon from the first case on his holster thrown across his chest. Jake felt the familiar weight of the silver marble-sized balls in his hand. He threw the three silver marbles towards the cyclops’ feet. A loud blare and flashes of light struck at once the moment the balls stood still on the ground. Then he opened the next holster.

The moment Randall saw him he screamed for Jake. Jake pulled out the baton and then swung it hard once. The baton elongated into a sharpened javelin. He ran forward and threw the javelin. Not missing a step he kept running and opened the next case on his holster. The cyclops screamed and trampled the ground, shaking Randall up and down, the javelin sticking out of its eye.

Jake stared down at the pie like metals in his hand. He clicked the point until the sides extended and it became a disk. He’d never really used the weapons in battle before now so he was uncertain how effective any of them worked. He took a deep breath and threw the disk like he would a frisbee and hoped it at least scratched the cyclops.

It struck the neck of the cyclops but simply bounced off. Jake sighed as he went for the next holster. Jake grimaced since he was holding a semi-automatic glock in his hand. Not that he hadn’t ever made firearms per orders. He was licensed to carry and to sell weapons, but he wasn’t exactly a fan of guns. Jake shot low, aiming for the monster’s kneecaps instead of moving his aim above the waist. He didn’t trust his aim enough to believe he wouldn’t hit Randall.

Once Jake was out of bullets he threw the gun to the side. He jumped up now that he was finally closer to the cyclops. He climbed as quickly as he could while the cyclops was still moving between legs from the pain, eye still blinded, and shaking Randall left and right as his arms swung from the pain.

“Jake!” Randall cried, tears and snot flooding the boy’s face. Jake moved by instinct. He pulled the dagger from out of the holster’s next case. It was the only weapon he had made out of Stygian iron. Jake stabbed it into the cyclops and this time a roar of pain came out of the monster. He used the dagger to help him continue to climb and leverage himself onto the arm holding Randall.

Jake wrapped his legs around the monster’s wrist and let himself swing down. Randall burst into fresh tears once he saw Jake was truly so close.

“Shush.” Jake ran a hand over the boy’s hair very quickly before moving down two cases from the holster. He jabbed the dagger into the web of the monster’s hand and forced it to release Randall. He pulled out his dagger and jumped off the cyclops’ wrist to grab Randall.

“I’ve got you,” he promised as he held on tightly to Randall. Jake closed his eyes for impact as he threw the iron marble-sized balls at the cyclops’ face. Those exploded. He waited for his back to hit the ground.

“Jake! Randall!” Connor called from below them. “Oomph!” Jake opened his eyes once he felt arms underneath him before his weight crushed Connor onto the ground.

Jake rolled off Connor and handed Randall to him. Jake held the dagger tightly in his hand, feeling the coldness numb his palm. He ran up to the cyclops again. This time he jumped onto the monster’s knee then swung onto its arm. As it screamed and rambled on about eating demigods, Jake ran up the monster’s arm. He kept his center low and avoided the haphazard arm that swung at him.

He heard the distant cries of the two most important to him. Jake ignored it for the immediate threat in front of him. He’d never really heard of cyclops hunting alone, but some did when there weren’t established families. He could only hope this one had no mate or children around.

Jake plunged the dagger into the cyclops’ jugular and yanked it out. Blood splattered all over him as he stabbed into the same spot a couple more times. He held on as the monster fell over. He stabbed the dagger into the monster one last time and even though his hand felt cold and his palm felt hot he held onto the blade. The monster slowly disappeared before him until Jake was only standing.

“Jake!”

Connor jumped into his arms and held him tight. He couldn’t process the fact that Connor was hugging him as if their lives depended on it. He couldn’t process that Randall was holding in his tears as Connor held him between the two of them. In truth, Jake was mostly worried about the fact that he couldn’t unclench his hand from the dagger.

“Jake?” Connor quickly gasped at him. Jake lifted his eyes. “You don’t look good.” Jake almost wanted to throw a smile at Connor and make a joke of it. He’d just finished fighting off a monster, of course he didn’t look so good. Instead of responding, Jake blinked and the next thing he knew he was staring at his ceiling and in the afternoon sunlight.

“Hey, be careful.” A hand deftly pushed him back down when he tried to sit up. He turned his head, ignoring the ache, and stared up at Nico di Angelo glaring down at him. The smaller man’s arms were folded to his chest and his finger tapped slowly but surely.

“What…” he croaked and stopped. Jake swallowed to try and moisturize his throat. He lifted his hand up to massage it but then saw the bandage on his hand. He didn’t recall getting hurt when he fought the cyclops. It didn’t feel as if any other part of him was bandaged either.

“I warned you about using that dagger,” Nico reprimanded him sternly. Jake nodded. “Even you said holding onto it for very long felt like it was sucking the very life right out of you. You did something reckless.” Jake wished he could have said it was his only option. It hadn’t been. The truth was that he hadn’t been thinking very smartly. Connor had appeared, he could have finished off the cyclops with Connor’s help and by using celestial bronze weapons. Instead he rushed in, acting without thinking. He couldn’t remember the last time he did something without calculating the consequences first.

Nico held his palm upright and waved for Jake’s hand. Unsure, he slowly moved his hand and placed it on Nico’s. Then Nico turned his palm upward and gently pressed down on it, trying to feel the damage over the bandage.

“Will does not like shadow-traveling,” Nico said as he moved his fingers to a different part of Jake’s palm. “Also, Connor is special to all of us. Don’t break his heart.” It came off as a threat but somehow Jake knew it for what it really was. Concern and worry. It was strange to think Nico di Angelo could be concern about anyone outside his close group of friends.

“Have some ambrosia, I hear it works wonders for you guys.” Nico waved to the tray with two blocks of ambrosia and a small cup of nectar. Jake could tell from the smell wafting towards him. “Connor heated it up, not sure how that makes a difference.” Oh, but it did. Ambrosia and nectar both tasted like people’s favorite tastes or foods. For Jake, it’d always been the memory of hot pancakes with maple syrup and ice cream on a freshly baked pumpkin pie. His mother’s secret hot chocolate was his favorite drink during the cold seasons. Heating up the godly blocks and liquid gave it a more authentic experience.

Nico sighed one more time and focused his inspection of Jake’s hand on the fingers. Now that Jake looked at the tips of his fingers that he could see he noticed the discoloring. It was pale white—something of a scary and faded purple. It was almost like his hand had been drained of blood.

“Once Will feels you’re up to par we’ll leave,” Nico said. Jake would have offered for them to stay longer but he’d seen them just a couple nights ago. He also wasn’t at a point where he could comfortably host anyone.

Considering what he’d been talking to Connor about the night before Jake was suddenly very curious. He stared at Nico a little longer than he should and the dark glare back at him made him jump. Jake felt a shiver run down the back of his neck all the way through his spine. He cleared his throat and waited for Nico to roll his eyes before walking over and helping him sit up. Nico held the cup of ambrosia to Jake and nearly stabbed the straw into his mouth. Jake slowly slipped as Nico grounded his teeth.

Jake pulled away from the straw once his throat felt quenched. He cleared his throat one more time to test his voice. Nico’s sharp gaze stared Jake down but he tried to smile instead. He wasn’t very curious, Jake did prefer to live his own life, but he had no one else around to talk besides Nico.

“So,” he started and coughed. Much more gently and carefully Jake spoke, trying not to strain his voice, “What’s dating Will like?”

“You’ve got a crush on my boyfriend?” Nico growled in response. It didn’t sound half as threatening as Nico made it look.

Jake shook his head. “Just wanted to know what it’s like.”

“You’ve never fucked a guy or something?” Nico sighed as he moved away from the bed again. He leaned his waist against Jake’s desk and faced Jake.

“Never dated Connor.”

Nico smirked, throwing a short but scoffing chuckle Jake’s way. His arms folded to his chest, Nico raised an amused eyebrow before looking out the window.

“I think Kahale can answer that question a lot better than I can,” Nico replied. Jake smiled. Dating Connor and dating Travis were too very different experiences. From what Jake noticed during their dinner, Travis was definitely much more amenable than Connor in a relationship.

“Just wanted a general idea.”

Nico rolled his eyes one more time. His finger still tapped on but Jake ignored the tick. He wondered exactly how Will and Nico managed to live with each other. With such a naturally hostile personality Jake couldn’t quite see Nico as someone who could easily relax into a romantic seduction or the usual idea of dating.

“Our first date was considered a walk,” Nico sighed. He sat on top of Jake’s desk after moving the things on top of it aside. Nico put his feet up on the handle of the desk drawers. One hand landed on the top of his sword’s hilt as he maneuvered it from his belt out of the way. “It was supposed to be a patrol.” Nico’s face showed that he was bothered with thinking about it, but his eyes seemed far away as if he was thinking of something deeper about the memory. “It was boring, we didn’t talk, and he stayed at least two steps behind me.”

Nico said it so matter-of-factly that it was almost funny. Jake wasn’t sure what he could say to that. First dates were always awkward. He was surprise that Nico’s first date with Will only numbered down to only a walk. He imagined it would’ve been something like fighting monsters or going somewhere like a biker bar.

“Most of our time together consists of him coming to my house to make me eat,” Nico revealed shortly after. This time it was Jake who was raising an eyebrow. “Our dates usually consist of eating together watching TV or taking Alethea out somewhere.” Nico observed Jake for a minute. Apparently satisfied he then asked, “You?”

“We’re not dating.”

“That’s unlike Connor.”

“What do you mean?”

Nico rested his arms on his knees and leaned forward. Very clearly Nico told him, “Connor’s hotheaded, does things impulsively and follows his instincts. It’s what makes him and Travis some of Percy’s closest friends. They share the same attributes.” The unspoken words which Nico exhaled out heavily were that it was exactly what made Nico most annoy with them. “He likes you, and unlike previous he knows you like him. So what’s holding him back?”

Jake tightened his jaw. It was none of Nico’s business.

Nico got off Jake’s desk and walked toward the bed. He grabbed Jake’s bandaged hand to inspect it again. Jake kept his hand from moving since it was bandaged so firmly. To Jake all it felt like was cold, as if the blood had drained from his body. For Nico he seemed perplexed, as if he was trying to find something in Jake’s hand.

“What are you doing?”

“Stygian iron is mined and forged in the Underworld.” Nico pulled his hand away, clenching and unclenching his own hand. “I told you, I’ve never seen anyone unrelated to the underworld use it before. We’re used to feeling that uncomfortable sense of a shadow that seems to keep you hyperaware.” Jake gasped sharply. The chill he felt, the coldness that kept growing from his hand when he held the dagger—that was the shadow. Nico could feel it.

“That’s what it is?” Jake moved forward. His brain started moving a mile a minute, too quickly for him to keep up after having just regain consciousness. “Tell me more about it. How does it work? Is that what makes it different from celestial bronze?” Questions poured out of him that he knew Nico couldn’t quite answer. “Is that shadow what gives you power?” The moment he asked the question Jake knew he’d blurted out something insensitive. Of course, the “shadows” weren’t a power source. Nico’s abilities were inherited from his father.

“Will calls it ‘the darkness’, it’s something he’s afraid will swallow me whole,” Nico admitted. Jake gaped, staring up at Nico as he realized the younger man was blushing. Blushing. Nico di Angelo was blushing. “It will swallow everything if you make the mistake of thinking you can control it.” Nico knelt down by the bed and took Jake’s hand again. “He administered the same healing technique he does with me. You’ll have to reconsider using stygian iron for your experiment. Don’t be foolhardy either Jake, your life is much more important.”

Jake pulled his hand away. He slowly tried to clench his fingers but when he tried his entire hand shook. It wouldn’t do what he wanted and Jake had to take a deep breath to steel himself. It felt like a muscle spasm but also different and much more painful. Sharp knifing pains ran from the tips of his finger up his forearm, and both heat and cold radiated out as if pulsing. When he tried to clench his fist or move his fingers, it felt like electricity was locking them in place. Jake never felt such fear and dread run through him before. Now he realized how heavy the burden of Nico’s “shadow” was and how terrifying it was for Will who could sense it. Their relationship was weighted by such a heavy fear and burden.

“It is also the only metal capable of actually killing monsters,” Jake pointed out. He couldn’t give up the idea. He wanted to work towards creating better weapons for demigods. “It’s effective.”

“And unless my father is somehow your father, it’ll definitely kill you to use it.” Nico stood at Jake’s desk and stared at the plans he’d been drawing up. The smile that graced Nico’s face was a sight to behold. Jake almost forgot to breathe. He smiled to himself and chuckled. Emotions he hadn’t felt in a long time burned through him like a relit forge. He’d forgotten what it looked like and how it felt when someone purely appreciated his work.

“You like them?” Jake forced himself to ask into the silence. He kept his eyes downcast and away from Nico. He barely mustered the courage to ask the question, so looking directly at Nico when he asked yes or no was next to impossible.

“Yes,” came the curt reply. The two of them sat in silence for some time. From the sound of paper ruffling Jake knew Nico had picked up one of the design plans from off the table to better look at it in the light.

“You two should have sex.”

Jake’s jaw dropped at Nico’s unexpected words. He coughed and moved his hand to grab the glass of water. Pain shot through his arm and he moved it back toward his body before he even touched the cup. Jake pounded on his chest with his left hand, coughing still at the unprovoked statement.

In the middle of his coughing fit he gasped, “What?!”


End file.
